Takahata Naruto
by monkies ate my sisters
Summary: Met with the full force of Akatsuki, Konoha lasted a single day. Taken in and raised by Takahata, Naruto now has a new goal: protect Mahora Academy no matter what. The problem? A ten-year-old teacher and his class are causing Naruto nothing but trouble.
1. If You're Late for Class

Okay, so, yes, I'm a horrible bastard of a person who should learn his lesson…but this HAD to be made! The story cried out for me to help it and I merely answered its cries. If you feel you must kill me for that, then so be it! But seriously, I am sorry, guys, but I have an addiction. Also, my limit is now five stories—no more, no less, so this is the last new one until I have completed a story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Negima.

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><p>"<em>So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will fall."<em>

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><p>"H-Help!"<p>

"P-Please, my child, he's in there!"

"P-Put out the fires! There are still people inside!"

"Protect the civilians! For now, ignore any collateral damage—all chūnin are to avoid engaging the enemy at all costs! All jōnin are to engage the enemy. Avoid close-combat—stick to long-range attacks! We're Konoha's finest—no matter what, there is no retreat!"

"W…W-What's going on…?"

"G-Grab everything you can—j-just get to the shelter!"

"T-Th…This…c-can't be happening—it can't!"

Panic and chaos flooded the streets of Konoha as a wave of civilians poured down the roads like scampering mice, trampling anything or anyone that got in their way and safety. The lucky few had managed to grab perhaps a handful of their belongings right before the fire that spread from one building to the next hit their own home. The ground shook as explosions rocked the surface of the village, and the screams of agony and fear were deafening as the smoke rose up into the night's sky. Chūnin and genin struggled in vain to control the crowds, the occasional genin being trampled in their mad dash. The entire village it seemed was running like mad to get to the shelter in the Hokage Monument…with the exception of one, weak, small little boy, who was crying to himself in an alleyway.

Uzumaki Naruto was on his way back to the orphanage where he lived when the event that caused all the panic transpired. It had started out as a calm, peaceful day in Konoha—and a good one for Naruto as well, for today was the rare occasion where the kids in the orphanage were allowed to go out into the city. Even if the people always ignored him or glared at him, Naruto still loved to run and explore around the village and see what new things he could find. Naruto had staring up at the twilight sky on the roof of a building he had managed to sneak onto when he saw what he thought must have been the strangest, funniest-looking white bird he'd ever seen. Naruto's eyes widened and he mumbled to himself about how cool it was when he realized that there was a _person _riding on the bird.

'_That's so cool!' _Naruto grinned to himself, _'I wanna be able to do cool things like that when I'm a ninja!'_

Naruto blinked in confusion when he noticed the man on the bird had thrown something very small from his hands—so small, that Naruto had to focus his eyes and look hard just to keep track of the tiny dot's descent. Naruto hadn't found it to be in the least suspicious then—why would he? It was when it hit the ground that fear entered his heart—it had exploded right in a civilian area. Naruto only stared at the column of smoke silently, his mind racked with confusion and panic as he heard shouts and screams from the streets below followed by more explosions. Then, from his position on the tall building, he could see Konoha's east, west, and north gates were either being blown open or having their supporting walls torn down. It was pure instinct that caused him to run down to ground floor and join the crowd of people already panicking. As usual, the people ignored him, but not out of hate this time, but fear. Naruto fell to the ground in a matter of seconds, though no one stopped to help him up. They ran over him, stepped on him, some even noticed him and still they did not stop. Naruto lay there, face first on the ground, frozen in shock as he felt someone step on his arm and he heard a sickening crack, yet the shock kept him from screaming out in pain. Finally, with his mind still blank, he began to crawl his way to the side of the crowd, still being stepped and trampled on all the way. When he emerged from the side of the flood of people, Naruto found himself in the entrance of an alley, and proceeded to crawl as far back in it as he could. Huddling in the corner, Naruto's eyes looked to the opening of the alleyway, and a cold fear clenched his heart as he did. The crowd was stopped just before they passed the entrance of the alley and were surprisingly quiet. Fear and despair shook in their eyes and forms as they looked at the man in front of them, who Naruto could see was stopping their progression down the street.

He had spiky, orange hair that reminded Naruto of his own and the oddest looking eyes Naruto had ever seen. Those eyes…something about them shook Naruto's very soul, instilled more fear in him than anything he could have possibly imagined…yet he could not look away. The piercings on the man's face, his black cloak with red clouds lining the design, or the headband wrapped around his forehead meant nothing to Naruto—those eyes were the burning image in the back of his mind as he felt his head go light and the blond lost all perception of the world around him. The crowd of terrified people seemed to be in the same shock and broken state as Naruto, as none of them moved, talked, or even attempted to get past the man as his eyes scanned the crowd in front of him.

"…He's not here…" the man mumbled, raising his hand to the crowd, causing them to flinch. Seeing the hand, the people immediately began to turn and run backwards, trampling anyone. Children, parents, teachers, friends, loved-ones—everyone who got in the way of someone else's survival was thrown to the ground and trampled over, being killed in the process. The man glowered at this, his mouth turning into a sickened sneer as he looked at the crowd with fury in his eyes.

"Pathetic filth…" the man growled, "Shinra Tensei!"

Naruto's panic gave way to bewilderment and confusion as the crowd of people went soaring into streets or buildings with such force that their blood splattered the walls and pavement upon collision. Naruto's breath caught in his throat and his head began to spin as the man looked around to survey his work. Would he be found? Killed like the rest? Or something even worse? Suddenly, Naruto felt like he was going to vomit, but refrained from doing so as to stay as silent as possible. The world seemed to freeze as coughing sounded towards the pile of bodies. The man's eyes narrowed as he held out his hand once more. Seeing this, Naruto closed his eyes tightly, opening them once more when he heard the call of "Banshō Ten'in."

Naruto looked to see a young girl who had managed to survive the first assault fly forward towards the man, who grabbed her throat violently and held her closely to his face, forcing her to look him in the eye. The man glared, "Where is the jinchuuriki?"

"M-My m-m-mom…" the girl managed out, turning her eyes away to the pile of corpses.

"The Kyuubi-container—where is it?"

"W-W-Why w-w-would y—"

Apparently, the man had seen that he would get nothing out of the girl, as a black blade extended from the hand he had wrapped around her throat and pierced it. The girl's eyes widened, tears streaming down her eyes and blooding leaking from the corner of her mouth as the blade retracted back into the man's arm. The man tossed her aside apathetically and she fell to the ground like a ragdoll, "Useless."

The man stood there a minute or two…or maybe three—if felt like an eternity to Naruto—before he left, yet his presence hung in the air for what seemed like hours to Naruto before the blond dared to let go of his breath and break into tears. For the next few hours as the sun began to set, Naruto stayed in that position in that alley, the ground shaking as explosions rang out and more crowds of people ran by the alley, as Naruto found himself in his current position.

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto lifted his head, his eyes red and puffy with tears still pouring out of them, to see an ANBU member kneeling in front of him—relief rushed into his heart as he saw the dog mask and gravity-defying hair that marked the ANBU as "Inu-san", the one that Jiji always sent to look after and help Naruto. Without thinking twice about it, Naruto jumped at the man and wrapped his arms, ignoring the stinging pain from his left one, around the man's torso, sobbing into his chest. Inu, otherwise known as Hatake Kakashi, patted Naruto's head comfortingly for a moment before looking Naruto in the eye.

"Naruto-san, I need to get you out of here—you're not safe here," Kakashi spoke, his voice taking a serious edge, "Hokage-sama has given me supplies and has ordered me to take you out of the village until it is safe enough to return. Do you understand? We have to leave right now, while the other Jōnin and ANBU are clearing a path for us."

Naruto, shaking terribly, nodded. While he was certainly not against getting out of Konoha at the moment, Kakashi's voice left no room for arguments. Seeing his nod, Kakashi grabbed the boy and leapt to the nearest rooftop, crossed it, and jumped down into an open manhole. Taking off down the sewers, Kakashi ran as fast as he could, Naruto silent the entire way. While calm on the outside, Kakashi was panicked in a way he hadn't been since the Kyuubi attack Konoha—but it wasn't the attack on Konoha that had shaken him up and it wasn't that he knew virtually nothing of the enemy or their capabilities…rather, it was the words of Hiruzen Sarutobi that truly shook Kakashi to his core.

_(Flashback)_

"_Hokage-sama, why have you summoned me now? I need to be out on the field, commanding my squad of ANBU!" Kakashi shouted as he burst through the door. Sarutobi was staring out the window of his office, looking sadly into the distance at the burning buildings and the screaming people. Sarutobi sighed. He had failed not only his village and people, but his predecessors as well. The Shodaime and Nidaime would be rolling in their graves… Sarutobi shook his head—this was no time to be ashamed and he would be damned if he allowed the village to go down without a fight. Turning and walking to Kakashi, the look in his eyes immediately silenced the ANBU Captain. _

"_I already have the new ANBU, Itachi-kun, commanding your squad, Kakashi-kun. Right now you should not think of that," Sarutobi spoke evenly, "Right now, I am ordering you on a special mission—one of utmost importance that you cannot fail under any circumstances, is that clear?"_

"_Hai, Hokage-sama!" Kakashi bowed deeply._

"_This is enough money and supplies to support two people for months without working," Sarutobi said as he handed two scrolls over to Kakashi, "I want you to locate Uzumaki Naruto and take him as far away from the village as possible. Make sure he is with someone strong enough to protect him at all times should something happen to you. Do you understand your mission?"_

"_Hai, Hokage-sama…" Kakashi frowned, "But when can I expect the signal to return to Konoha?"_

_Sarutobi smiled weakly and moved to look back out the window, never turning to face Kakashi again, "The jōnin, ANBU, and I will buy you at least an hour to find Naruto and leave…and when it is safe to return to Konoha, I will send for you."_

"_I…" Kakashi fell silent for a moment, his head hung low, "I-I…I understand, Hokage-sama."_

"_Thank you, Kakashi…" Sarutobi closed his eyes as he felt Kakashi leave the room, before removing his hat and cloak and revealing the battle gear he wore underneath, "Well then, I suppose it is my turn, right, Minato-kun?"_

_(End Flashback)_

Kakashi shook himself from his thoughts and glanced down at Naruto momentarily, still running, "Naruto-san, are you hurt in anyway?"

"…I hurt my arm," Naruto mumbled quietly. Kakashi frowned—he didn't have time to stop and perform first-aid and whether that was the only injury the boy had or the only one the boy knew he had, he couldn't say. For now, Kakashi nodded silently and continued to speed down the sewers, now being very careful of possible enemies. By now, they were deep into the territory that the enemy first attacked and, judging by how Sarutobi wanted Naruto out of the village, they were after the boy. As such, they certainly weren't going to find him above ground, and it would only be a matter of time before they caught on to Sarutobi's plan and searched the sewers and surrounding forests. Kakashi could only hope that the jōnin bought him just another half-hou—

"Man, this is such a pain in the ass. How the hell did we get stuck with this crappy job, anyway?"

"If you're not quiet, Kisame, we won't be able to catch the jinchuuriki. Pein-sama is right—it is safe to assume that the Sandaime has sent at the very least a jōnin to safeguard the boy."

"Ah, whatever, Kakuzu…we didn't tear down the south gate—they're probably headed there, anyway."

"That is why Pein-sama headed there himself, now be quiet—I'll never hear the end of it if the brat got away under our noses…"

Kakashi grimaced as he heard the voices coming from behind him. Had they really caught on that fast? It couldn't have been fifteen minutes! Kakashi calmed himself—Naruto was being completely silent, the enemy was behind them and still didn't know they were there—what's more, they were distracting each other. Very silently, Kakashi carried on with new-found energy, his adrenaline allowing for him to go twice the speed before.

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><p>It was about an hour later when Kakashi emerged from the sewers just a quarter mile outside of Konoha's east gate. Panting, Kakashi paused a moment to regain his breath, looking down at the still silent Naruto. Naruto's eyes had dimmed and he was peering past his shoulder to see the flaming buildings of Konoha. Kakashi knew he should say something to the boy, but what could he say? Kakashi sighed, <em>'Is there anything I even can say that's not a complete lie?'<em>

Unlike the crackling flames and faint screams inside the walls of Konoha, the dark sky and towering trees of Konoha's forest remained untouched, as pristine as there ever were, standing in silent mockery to the massacre going on in front of them. The lush green grass that covered the area almost sickened Kakashi, as did the near unbearable silence of the forest. Kakashi sighed—he had managed to lose the pursuers after hitting a few forks in the sewer tunnels. Being in an area that the enemy didn't expect him to be, a safe—at least for now—distance from Konoha, under the cover of night, and completely winded both mentally and physically, Kakashi figured he could spare at least five minutes of rest before continuing on. Naruto, still quiet and in a trance like state, said nothing as Kakashi moved behind a thicker tree and settled down against it. Kakashi let out a quiet sigh and peaked up at the stars through the branches of the forest…before his eyes widened and he jumped away from the tree just in time to avoid having his head taken off.

"Damn…almost got away from us, didn't you? Lucky for us, Samehada could smell your chakra a mile away."

"You missed, Kisame! Now that he knows we're here, this is just going to get annoying."

"Shut the hell up, Kakuzu…he won't last long."

Naruto didn't bother to look at either Kisame or Kakuzu, he was far more entranced by the flames turning his home to ashes just within his view. The world around him might as well not have existed at this point. He could feel Inu-san move and dodge around a bit as the one called "Kisame" swung something at him and the other called "Kakuzu" stood back and berated Kisame for taking too long, but that was all that registered with him. He would hear groans or grunts as Kisame was hit or Kakashi was hit and the occasional blood flew into the air and sometimes splashed onto him, but it didn't matter—the sounds of screams in the village were far more important.

Kakashi, however, was far more focused on the fight than the destruction of his home—he hadn't anticipated going up against one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist while completely exhausted and carrying Naruto. He could completely see why they were hailed as the greatest swordsmen in Kirigakure—every movement was precise and accurate, not wasteful at all and the blade of the sword always shot or extended to just as far as it could get without leaving its wielder open for an attack. By now, his armor had been cracked and torn away, and he could feel the blood loss affecting him from the two deep gashes he had on his arm and back, reminders of how he learnt that his opponents sword doesn't cut—"it shaves." Kakashi glared at the one called Kakuzu—he was the bigger problem here. At first, he appeared lazy, disinterested, and apathetic, but it was clear that Kakuzu was waiting for Kisame to force Kakashi to let go of Naruto, when he would have the chance to snatch the boy up and leave Kisame to kill Kakashi. If there was one of them, he could simply run away, but with two of them, they would catch him in no time. Kakashi calmed his mind once more—this was a losing battle. His mission was not to stop, the enemy, not to kill them, and not to protect himself—it was to save Naruto. And there was only one option left that would protect Naruto at this point.

Kakashi allowed Kisame to score another gash on his side as he retracted his free arm he would have used to block it in favor of grabbing a smoke bomb from his pouch. Throwing it down, Kakashi quickly created two clones that leapt out of the smoke first, charging off in two different directions and, while the smoke still covered the field, Kakashi quickly formed the seals needed for _Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu (Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique) _and burrowed his way underground, where he waited silently and tried his best to conceal his chakra.

"…Damn, those were _Kage Bunshin_—Samehada can't smell out which was the real one, they have even chakra…" Kisame grumbled.

"You take one, I'll take the other—whichever one of us finds them, kill the jōnin and take the container back to Pein-sama," Kakuzu replied.

"Yeah, yeah…" Kisame sighed.

Kakashi waited a moment and, not hearing their banter anymore, emerged from the ground. Kakashi checked Naruto quickly for wounds from the fight and, seeing none, then checked over his own wounds. He winced. There were four large gashes—on his back, arm, side, and leg—all of which were bleeding badly. His head felt light and the world around him began to spin as he felt more blood leave him. Shaking his head and focusing on the task ahead, Kakashi began to limp in a different direction than his clones, _'No time for first-aid…'_

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><p>The already dark night was growing far dimmer for Kakashi as his eyes wailed in agony for rest. Naruto, being exhausted from the day, had by now fallen asleep. It took Kakashi about an hour to find his way to the main road, and by now, he was about two miles away from Konoha, still limping his way through the darkness. By now, Kisame and Kakuzu had realized the trick he pulled, and must have been on his trail for awhile now—it was only a matter of time before they caught up to him.<p>

"A-Are you alright?"

Kakashi looked up to see a man running towards him, and he glared, "S…Stop…don't take another step…until you tell me who you are…and what you are doing here."

The man stopped in his tracks, surprise evident on his face as well as concern. He had short, sand-white hair that was slightly spiked up and tanned skin. Over his warm, chocolate-brown eyes that were filled with confusion were a pair of glasses that reflected the moon's light. He was dressed in formal attire—a grey suit with a black tie and white dress-shirt, with matching pants and dress-shoes. Despite his apparent confusion, the man answered, "I-I'm Takahata Takamichi and I've been traveling around this past month. More importantly, are you alright? You're injured."

'…_No—the enemy wouldn't bother tricking me at this point…they'd just kill me flat out and take Naruto,' _Kakashi motioned for Takahata to come closer, and when he was close enough, he motioned to Naruto, "Are…Are you strong, Takahata-san?"

"A-Am I strong?" Takahata blinked in confusion, "I suppose so, but that's not what's important right now—we have to get your wounds taken care of!"

Kakashi shook his head weakly, "P-Please, t-take this boy…His…His name is Naruto…and he's in trouble. I…I need you to raise…him and protect him. Make sur…sure he is strong…please…Takahata-san…"

Takahata looked into Kakashi's eye for a moment. Sadness, regret, hope, urgency, defeat, tiredness, loss, despair, and the dying will of a strong man swirled around to create a mix of emotions that Takahata had only seen once before. Coming out of his thoughts, Takahata nodded slowly, accepting Naruto gently from Kakashi, "What about you?"

"…O…Our village…I-I have to…return to it…and help…" Kakashi breathed heavily, "G…Get as far away from…here as possible…"

"…I understand. What is your name?" Takahata asked.

"…Hatake Kakashi," Kakashi nodded.

"I will remember it, Hatake-san," Takahata spoke, "And I will make sure he remembers as well."

That said, Takahata turned and disappeared into the night down the road, leaving Kakashi standing there. Kakashi wasn't sure how much longer it had been when both Kisame and Kakuzu emerged from the tree line, but by now, Takahata and Naruto were long gone.

"You damn bastard…" Kisame growled, gripping Samehada tightly, "I'll tear you apart for that."

Kakashi removed his ANBU mask and smiled.

Kakuzu glared at him in fury, "Where is the jinchuuriki?"

Kakashi laughed.

"Where is that brat?" Kisame roared.

Kakashi, still laughing, began to shake his head. And, as Kisame rushed towards him with Samehada drawn, Kakashi broke out into a grin. He wasn't sure quite why he was so happy. By all means, he should have been wallowing in despair by now. But looking back at his life, and remembering the people he had been lucky enough to meet and knowing that tonight, he may have just atoned to Obito…Kakashi couldn't help but smile the biggest smile he had ever had in his life. And with a smile on his face, Hatake Kakashi died.

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><p>Naruto awoke with a start, instantly shooting up from the ground. Looking around, he found himself lying out on a lush field of grass in a clearing in the woods, the night's sky almost giving way to dawn as the chirping of crickets flooded the area. His broken arm was now protected by a make-shift splint and his dirty white shirt and green shorts had been washed for him and lay drying next to him. Looking around, he found a campfire not three feet away from him, with a man cooking some freshly caught fish over it. The man turned to look at Naruto and grinned upon seeing him, "Oh, I see you're up—that's good! Why don't you come over here by the fire and have something to eat? You must be hungry."<p>

It was true—Naruto was starving. Hunger won out over confusion in Naruto's mind as he grabbed his shirt and pants, slipped them on, and walked over by the fire and accepted the fish handed to him, munching away on it quietly. After one or two bites, Naruto lowered the fish from his mouth, tears threatening to overspill from his eyes, "M…Mister…where's Inu-san? Where's Jiji? Where's Ayame-nee and Teuchi-jiji?"

"…I'm sorry—I don't know," Takahata smiled sadly, rubbing Naruto's head in comfort, "…I'm not quite sure what happened to your home… Your name is Naruto, right?"

Naruto, tears falling over his face, nodded.

"Well, Naruto-kun, I'm afraid you can't go back to your home for awhile now…Do you know what happened to your parents?"

Naruto hiccupped, "I…I don't have any…I l-lived in the orphanage all my l-life…"

"I see. Well, Naruto, my name is Takahata Takamichi," Takahata grinned at the boy, "And I would be honored if you'd let me adopt you, then."

Naruto's tears stopped flowing and he looked to the man in shock and surprise. Adopt him? While he lived in the village, no one had spared him a passing glance, let alone spoke or even _thought _of adopting him. Yet, this stranger…this person he hadn't even known for a single day, without any reason to want to… Naruto rubbed his eyes, "W…Why would you want to adopt someone like me?"

"Why wouldn't I want to, Naruto-kun?" Takahata smiled, "I know right now you're alone and I can't imagine what you've gone through or seen today…but I want to help you. I promise I won't let you be alone. I made a promise to a good man that I would raise you, and I intend to keep it—for both his memory and your future. That is, if you'd let me."

Naruto was silent a moment—he had a lot to take in for a three-year-old. Just today, he had witnessed death first hand, and had come so close to experiencing it. His home was gone, and judging from the fact that he didn't see Inu-san anywhere, as much as the idea scared and hurt him, he was afraid that maybe…Inu-san and Jiji were gone, too. Naruto felt tears return to his eyes, _'Jiji…I need you right now. You always were so nice to me…you always acknowledged me…please…what should I do…?'_

"_Naruto, always remember this—people cannot live alone. Without friends or family to support someone, they will fall into darkness. Even if at times you are lost and having nothing left, always seek the help of those who truly care for you and you will not be disappointed."_

Naruto blinked as Sarutobi's words came back to him—that was what the old man had answered when Naruto had blurted out how he hated the people in the village. Nodding his head and turning back to Takahata, Naruto wiped his eyes one more time before grinning, "I…I'd like it if you'd adopt me…Takahata-san!"

Takahata grinned and ruffled Naruto's hair a bit, "I won't let you down, Naruto-kun. C'mon—let's get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us."

"Journey? Where are we going?" Naruto blinked.

"We're going to head to your new home tomorrow, Naruto-kun."

* * *

><p>Takahata smiled lightly to himself as he looked out the window at the grounds of Mahora Academy. The sakura trees were in full bloom, the buildings and cobblestone sidewalks of Mahora were in perfect condition, and students were flooding the streets in an attempt to make it to school on time for the first day of the new school year. It had been eleven years since he adopted Naruto… Takahata chuckled to himself and whistled, <em>'Eleven years already…but it's kind of sad—Naruto-kun isn't a kid anymore…'<em>

At first, it had been awkward trying to be a parent for Takahata—he just wasn't quite sure what to do. He went through his first year of parenting bumbling and stumbling and learning from his mistakes and successes, with Naruto grinning and laughing all the way. It was at the end of the first year, when Naruto began calling him "otousan" and referring to himself as Takahata Naruto that Takahata truly started becoming a good parent—in his own opinion. If one asked Naruto, you'd hear that Takahata was the greatest parent right from the very beginning. Training-wise, Naruto took to everything Takahata had to offer, with some trouble when he learned that Naruto, instead of possessing magic or ki, had something similar to kankahō, chakra, as Naruto said it was called. That boundary was relatively quickly overcome by the boy and he continued to soar to new heights Takahata never expected. Naruto loved Mahora Academy, too, pledging to protect it and everyone there with everything he had, which resulted in—

_*BZZT—Attention all students, we of Mahora Academy would like to offer you your first "Welcome Back" of the year. Also, as a message from the Mahora Disciplinary Committee Head Takahata Naruto-san, he would like to remind everyone that no excuses will be accepted for anyone who is late today.*_

Takahata chuckled as he watched the returning students on the roads freeze in fear before doubling their efforts to get to class on time while first-year students looked on in confusion at the panic. Naruto's love of Mahora had led to him proposing and creating the "Mahora Disciplinary Committee", of which Naruto was the leader and only member. Using the skills he developed in training and a few years' time, Naruto and the Mahora Disciplinary Committee had managed to become the most feared force in the Academy, at least double that of the fear caused by Nitta, with the help of what the students dubbed "Discipline Mode", the scariest thing the students had ever seen in their lives. He had also managed to win over quite the few hearts and friends from the female population, not that Naruto ever recognized it—in fact, Naruto's friends were all female, now that Takahata thought about it.

"I _hate _kids!"

"H-Hey, p-p-put me down!"

"Asuna, if you get Naruto-kun angry again, he'll—"

Takahata looked down to see Kagurazaka Asuna lifting Negi Springfield into the air, with Konoe Konoka trying to calm the girl down. Takahata chuckled a bit—Negi was never good with first impressions.

"Asuna-chan, set Negi-kun down!" Takahata called down to them.

Asuna looked up and blushed, "T-T-Takahata-sensei!"

"Good morning, Takahata-sensei!" Konoka waved cheerfully.

"Takamichi! Long time no see!" Negi called happily, "Where's Naru-nii?"

"It has certainly been awhile, Negi-kun—I guess I should call you Negi-sensei, right?" Takahata laughed, "Welcome to Mahora Academy—nice place, isn't it? As for Naruto, I'm sure he's out terrifying the freshmen."

"Y-Y-You know each other?" Asuna shouted, turning to Negi in shock.

"Eh? Sensei?" Konoka blinked.

"That's right…" Negi nodded, bowing slightly, "I am going to be teaching English at this school this year. My name is Negi Springfield and—"

Negi was cut off by an odd sight—a freshman boy flying through the air over them and crashing into the third floor window. Seeing this, Takahata sighed, Asuna grimaced, and Konoka giggled a bit—all three knowing exactly who was to blame for the property damage. Negi blinked in confusion and turned to Takahata to ask his question, only to find Takahata motioning for him to turn around. Negi did, and found another figure approaching—a blond one. The blond had tanned skin and striking sapphire eyes, however, the distinguishing feature was the three whisker marks that sat on either side of his deep scowl as he stomped his way over to the group, his black shoes smacking against the pavement. He wore a pure white, button-up shirt with the top three buttons undone, over which he had on a solid black gakuran jacket that hung on his shoulders, his arms shoved in the pockets of his black pants rather than in the sleeves of the gakuran jacket. On the empty right sleeve of the jacket was an armband with kanji for "Mahora Disciplinary Committee" stitched on to it, held to the sleeve by a single safety-pin. His eyes shot to the broken window and he removed one hand from his pocket and cupped it by his mouth, "I won't be so lenient next time I catch you trying to ditch class, understand? You break the rules, I break you!"

Konoka giggled, "And yet another freshman experiences Naruto-kun's 'Discipline Mode'."

Negi's eyes lit up with joy as he saw Naruto approach, "Naru-nii! It's been so long!"

"Hm?" Naruto looked over to see Negi running at him with his arms stretched out and immediately grinned, "Negi!"

Grabbing his little brother figure into a hug, Naruto grinned as Negi laughed happily before stepping back and ruffling Negi's hair a bit, "You've gotten a bit taller, haven't you?"

"Hey, I've grown up since you last saw me!" Negi pouted. Naruto laughed until he heard a cough. Turning, he found a waving Konoka and an annoyed Asuna, who refused to look him in the eye. Naruto glared at Asuna, smirking, "Oi, you aren't flirting with my otousan, are you?"

Asuna blushed, her glare intensifying, "W-What's it to you, runt? Are you jealous or something?"

Naruto's glare met hers evenly, "Hardly! Student-teacher relationships are against the rules, and I will never allow a single one in Mahora…what's more, you've gotta be kidding if you think I'd ever let _you _even _try _to date Taka-otou!"

"You and you're stupid rules! If Takahata-sensei wasn't here, I'd so…"

Negi and Konoka sweat-dropped as they watch the pair argue back and forth, both of them completely lost in their argument and ignoring the world around them. Negi scratched the back of his head and turned to Konoka after a minute of arguing, "Is she Naru-nii's girlfriend?"

Konoka giggled, "No, not yet, but they do really care for each other!"

"NO, WE _DON'T_!" Naruto and Asuna shouted in unison, both turning their heads to glare at Konoka at the same time before going back to their argument.

"What? You don't?" Takahata laughed lightly as he walked over to the group, "If I remember correctly, you two, Konoka-chan, and Nodoka-chan used to play together all the time when you all barely came up to my knee."

"T-That was a long time ago!" Asuna shouted.

Naruto glared darkly, "Ancient history."

"A-Anyway, what was that about Negi being a sensei?" Konoka broke in, trying to ease the tension between her friends.

"That's right," Takahata smiled, "Negi-sensei here will be taking my place as your English and Homeroom sensei this year. Don't worry though, he's really quite smart."

"R-R-Replacing you?" Asuna shouted as her world began to come crashing down around her, her dying dreams of being close to her crush being accompanied by the melodious sound of Naruto's laughter, "Y-Y-You gotta be kidding, Takahata-sensei! He said that my lo—er, he was really rude to me just a moment ago!"

"Eh? Whatever he said, I'm sure it's completely accurate…" Naruto commented, smirking.

Asuna shot a quick death-glare at him, but didn't risk saying anything right in front of Takahata-sensei, "A-Anyway, I can't accept this!"

Negi glared lightly at Asuna, "B…But it's true!"

Asuna glared and grabbed Negi by the collar, shaking him, "It's not true! I hate kids—especially annoying little brats like you!"

"I…a…a…" Negi opened his mouth to speak, but stopped.

"Oi, put him down," Naruto glared at the red-head, his anger bubbling to the surface, "I won't allow students to bully a teacher!"

Asuna stopped shaking Negi and set him on the ground in front of her, her hands now pulling her hair in frustration at her childhood friend, "I've had it up to here with your stupid rules! Even when we were kids, you always ruined everything for the rest of us with your damn rules! For once in your damn life, will you shut up about rules?"

"A…a…ah…" Negi started to blink funny.

"I honestly don't give a crap if you're sick of me following the rules. I honestly don't care if I ruined your little fun when you were a brat," Naruto's glare darkened, "I am going to protect Mahora. Unlike you, I learn from the past."

Asuna snorted, "Protect Mahora? What do you think is going to happen, you idiot? Who do you think is going to attack a freaking academy?"

Takahata shot a worried glance towards Naruto at this. Naruto's form tensed and the rage and fury in his eyes boiled over to a point where Takahata could already tell that his son was just barely restraining himself. That was one thing Takahata never managed to do and it was one of his biggest regrets in his life thus far—he had never been able to get Naruto to talk about what had happened that day in his village. Whatever had happened, whatever Naruto saw, and whatever Naruto went through had been locked inside him, and it had culminated in his obsession with protecting his home and friends at all costs.

"If you knew…" Naruto growled.

"Asuna…" Konoka called out, worry evident in her eyes as she looked back and forth between her two arguing friends.

"That's another thing! You're always like that—keeping secrets from everyone else even though you say that they're your friends!" Asuna roared, "Half the time, I don't even know what's going on in that dense little head of yours!"

"Keeping secrets from my friends? Yeah, I guess I do that a lot…" Naruto looked Asuna in the eyes, anger giving way to disgust mixed with curiosity, "But do _you _even _consider _us friends anymore?"

"ACHOO!" Negi sneezed, causing a large gust of air to shoot forward. The force behind the wind was strong, Naruto noted…just strong enough to blow off Asuna's uniform and leave her standing in her underwear in front of her friend, new teacher, ex-friend, and crush. Her resulting scream of embarrassment shattered the window next to the one Naruto broke. Negi looked around him, blushing in embarrassment. Konoka was trying to gather Asuna's clothes, Takamichi was looking in anywhere other than Asuna, Asuna was blushing and covering herself up, and Naruto…well, Naruto's reaction was a mix between a shy, blushing little kid and a raging demon. While a blush worked its way across his cheeks, he still was sending a death stare at Negi. Naruto walked over and kneeled next to Negi, whispering in his ear while everyone was too distracted to notice.

"Negi, you don't have your powers down pat, I understand that…but forcing someone to break the dress code along with what can be considered harassment…it's _**unforgivable**_," Naruto's expression turned dark as he muttered the last few words, "You may be my little brother…but _no one _is above the rules, got it?"

"G-Got it, Naru-nii!" Negi shook his head quickly.

Naruto's dangerous expression instantly changed back into the happy-go-lucky face of the Naru-nii that Negi was familiar with, "Great! You should probably go see Konoemon-sama to let him know you made it. I'll try to meet up with you again later, so don't start causing trouble."

"R-Right!" Negi nodded as Naruto turned and walked off, offering a wave over his shoulder as his goodbye.

Takahata sighed before breaking out into a grin, "That kid just can't sit still, can he?"

"WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?" Asuna roared from her position as Konoka finished retrieving her clothes, a heavy blush still present on her face.

* * *

><p>"Um…about what happened early…do Naru-nii and Asuna-san not get along well?" Negi looked to Konoka with curiosity brimming from his eyes. Currently, Konoka and Asuna were tasked with the job of leading Negi to the principal's office. Asuna was stomping down the hall ahead of them, still too caught up in her anger to listen to their conversation, muttering about "dumb blonds". Konoka sighed, sending a sad look towards Asuna.<p>

"Well…we all used to be good friends and played together every day," Konoka answered, "I don't know what happened between those two. One day, they just stopped talking to each other all together. I'm really sorry you got caught up in their argument this morning—it's been building up for a little while now. Honestly, I'm surprised it only went as far as it did."

'_Those two were friends? Somehow, I can't picture it…' _Negi frowned, _'But it has been a while since Takamichi and Naru-nii visited us in Wales…maybe…has Naru-nii changed? Or did Asuna-san do something? Takamichi was acting kind of weird when he talked about Naru-nii, too…'_

"Negi-sensei? Are you alright?" Konoka shook Negi's shoulder a bit to drawl his attention, "You're spacing out…"

"O-Oh, sorry, Konoka-san!" Negi smiled, "I was just thinking a bit, that's all."

Asuna shot a glare back at Negi, momentarily snapping out of her anger, "Hey, brat, we're here."

Negi looked to the double, oak doors in front of him. This would officially mark the beginning of his training to become a first-class mage. Steeling his nerves, Negi stepped into the room behind Asuna and Konoka.

* * *

><p>"…Damn it!" Naruto growled to himself as he patrolled the streets of Mahora, his glaring eyes quickly scanning the areas around him for any students that might be skipping class—yet another duty of the Mahora Disciplinary Committee that omitted him from a few classes. His fight with Asuna had left him angrier than he had first thought, and so far he had not yet found a proper vent for his rage.<p>

"Well, look what we have here! How's it going, Shikei? Kill anyone today?"

Naruto turned to find a group of several delinquents standing behind him, each armed with either a metal bat or a pipe. They grinned at Naruto, a dangerous look coming into each other their eyes. One of the goons stepped forward, pointing his bat at Naruto, "Remember us, idiot?"

"Not particularly," Naruto stated with a bored look on his face.

"We're all members of the gangs you ousted last year! Because of a punk like you, we all got suspended and couldn't graduate!" another one snarled.

Reaching into his pocket and flipping out a knife, another grinned, "Well, this time we'll make sure you remember our names! I'll carve them into your ski—"

Simultaneously, all seven thugs fell to the ground, out cold. Naruto sighed, rubbing his fist, "Idiots…no one else remembers the names of bugs they smash, so why should I?"

"It seems that you're getting stronger, Naruto-kun. Maybe you are a suitable partner after all? I wonder-ne…"

Naruto's frown deepened as he was hugged from behind, "Chao-senpai, you're supposed to be in class."

Chao Lingshen pouted, letting go of Naruto and taking a step back, "So mean~! Is that anyway to greet your future partner?"

"I don't have any interest in a pactio with anyone—I told you this," Naruto sighed, looking away from Chao's puppy-stare. Naruto had met Chao just a few years ago, and it took him quite awhile to stop having nosebleeds whenever the vibrant girl decided to tease him—which happened often. It had been about a week after knowing her that he had found out that she was a mage, or at the very least, magically-aware, and the girl had sworn him to secrecy to anyone, even other mages. Why? Naruto had absolutely no idea, but she was his friend, and he always kept promises to friends.

"You won't say that forever! Soon my cute little kohai will grow into a handsome adult! Besides, shouldn't you be in class too-ne?" Chao smiled.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and began down the street once more, "I'm excused, unlike you, so get to class already."

"We're getting a new sensei today, you know. I wonder what he'll be like…" Chao spoke, ignoring Naruto's previous comment and following him.

"That would be my little brother, so go to class and meet him," Naruto stopped, peered into an alley to check for more delinquents, and continued down the road.

"Eh? You have a little brother, my adorable kohai?" Chao questioned, surprise evident on her face, "Why didn't you tell me-ne?"

"You never asked. Now please go back to class," Naruto responded.

"If I was anyone else, you'd have shown me that scary "Discipline Mode" of yours by now, my sweet kohai. I wonder if this special treatment is just another way of showing your love for me-yo?" Chao teased, pinching Naruto's cheek as she stepped up beside him.

Naruto blushed slightly, pushing her hand away, "Hardly. We're friends—I won't use that against you."

Chao grinned happily, enveloping Naruto's head into her chest, "Aw~! You really do care, my lovely kohai! You've been so distant lately, I thought you might have lost interest in me~!"

Naruto blushed bright red, his arms flailing around in an attempt to push Chao's body away from him, "W-W-What a-are you talking a-about, i-idiot?"

Chao giggled and snuggled Naruto tighter, "You're so cute when your shy, my handsome kohai-ne!"

Naruto finally managed to get out of his senpai's tight grip and, still blushing, turned his head to the sky and refused to look Chao in the eye, "S-Stop doing things like that! Honestly…Kazumi almost printed a story about us because you keep doing stuff like that, you know…"

"How did a shy little kitten like you get a scary epithet like 'Shikei'? Death penalty…what a scary nickname-ne!" Chao remarked, smiling wider, "Still, it just proves that you're strong enough to be my future partner!"

"I thought I told you that I don't—forget it," Naruto sighed, his shoulders slumping while Chao grinned behind him.

"See? It's much better if you just accept things, Naruto-kun," Chao said, "Now, where are we going, Naruto-kun?"

"We're going to your class," Naruto answered, not pausing as he heard Chao's groan, "I may not use "Discipline Mode" or whatever you guys call it, but I will still enforce the rules, Chao-senpai."

Chao pouted for a second before grinning and hugging Naruto from behind, whispering into his ear, "You know, Naruto-kun, if we go back together like this, Asakura-san might ask me what we were doing together that made me late…and I don't know what I'd tell her if I have to go to class. Understand, Na-ru-to-kun~?"

Naruto blushed heavily once more and shrugged out of the girl's arms, "…Where to?"

"Let's go to the park-ne!" Chao grinned happily, grabbing Naruto's arms as she dragged him onto her rightfully black-mailed date.

* * *

><p>"Geez…that girl…" Naruto sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he made his way down the street. By the time Chao had let him out of her grasp, school had ended, effectively ruining his hunt for students who had skipped class. Looking up, Naruto blinked when he saw another of his friends, Miyazaki Nodoka, walking down the road with a large stack of books in her hands. Walking at a bit of a faster pace than his friend, Naruto was able to catch up to her in seconds.<p>

"You're just going to drop them if you carry too many, Nodoka-chan," Naruto spoke up. Nodoka jumped in surprise, letting out a small gasp. The books in her hands would have toppled, had Naruto not grabbed her shoulders to help her regain her balance. Once the books and her heart had settled from the surprise, she turned to Naruto with a weak pout on her face.

"Naruto-kun, don't sneak up on me like that!" Nodoka spoke, directing a light glare towards her friend. Naruto chuckled a bit and took the tall stack of books from her hands, walking further down the street before she could protest. Naruto knew of Nodoka's shyness—in fact, he had experienced it for the first few years of knowing her—but, that was one of the benefits of knowing someone for as long as they knew each other—Nodoka was no longer shy around Naruto.

"To Library Island, right? Just leave it to me, Nodoka-chan!" Naruto grinned as Nodoka ran up next to him.

"N-Naruto-kun, I don't have time to play games now," Nodoka protested, "I have a party to get to and I need to drop those off quickly!"

"Well, then you go and I'll make the delivery for you," Naruto replied, "You said you're in a hurry and I have nothing better to do, so it works out, right? Go have fun."

Nodoka paused a moment, considering Naruto's words, before look him in the eye with varying levels of suspicion, "You'll get them there safely, right? You have a habit of getting into trouble, Naruto-kun."

"I'll guard them with my life," Naruto smiled.

Nodoka smiled warmly in return, turning in the opposite direction, "Thank you, Naruto-kun! I promise I'll hang out with you Sunday!"

"Yeah, yeah, just get going," Naruto smirked as he watched Nodoka run off before turning and walking down the street, a kick in his step. Naruto had always loved to be in Nodoka's presence—she was kind, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and polite, always followed the rules and showed proper respect to those who deserved it—in other words, the perfect student, in addition to being a great friend. Naruto sighed as his pace slowed. Konoka, Asuna, Nodoka—his first friends that he had known for so long had either already or were slowly drifting away. While he knew she meant well and didn't intend it to be, Naruto knew Nodoka's promise to hang out with him would turn into an empty one. She had other friends now, club activities, and school work—that short run-in right now was the first he had seen of her in a week.

'_I sound like an idiot…' _Naruto sighed once more. He knew he was just being selfish—Nodoka was just too busy lately, as was Konoka. Asuna… Naruto shook his head. Never again. That was what he promised himself after their…falling out. He spent most of his days with Chao, which was very enjoyable, but he it didn't keep him from missing his other friends at the same time.

'_Maybe Asuna's right…am I too caught up on rules? Should I even bother trying to protect this place?' _Naruto frowned as he began to walk down a flight of steps that led to a small plaza, in the center of which was an ornate water fountain. Naruto froze. That day—that man—_those eyes…_it all came rushing back to him in a memory he never wanted to remember. He had tried his best to move on, to forget, but it just wasn't possible. Naruto thought about it every now and then and it always had the same effect…Naruto's knees buckled and his breath turned shallow, he felt the world around him get dizzy, and he felt himself toppling off the sides of the stairs, the books going into the air.

"Naru-nii!"

"W-What?"

* * *

><p>"…Where am I?" Naruto groaned, sitting up and opening his eyes. As he waited for his eyes to adjust to the light, he could hear someone enter the room. When he finally began to look around, he noticed that he was in the infirmary of Mahora Academy, resting in one of the many beds that lined the bleach white walls and tiled floors. Judging from the skyline outside, the sun was just near setting, suggesting that he had been here for maybe a half-hour. Takahata had entered the room, pulling up a chair next to Naruto's bed.<p>

"Well, I'm not sure you need me to tell you, but you're in the infirmary," Takahata answered, putting out a cigarette, "Now, I would very much like to know why you are in the infirmary."

"The books…" Naruto looked around the room frantically, searching in vain for Nodoka's books.

"They were returned to Nodoka and she delivered them herself—she's very worried about you," Takahata smiled, "But Naruto, this is the second time this has happened in two months. I need you to tell me what's wrong."

"Shouldn't Shizuna-sensei know?" Naruto laid back into his pillow and refused to meet his father's gaze.

"She says you're in perfect physical health—that the only thing she can imagine is that there might be something wrong with your mental health," Takahata frowned, leaning forward to try and meet Naruto's gaze, "Naruto, this is serious. I know it may be tough, but I need you to tell me what is bothering you."

"…"

"Naruto," Takahata's frown deepened, "I'm your father—I worry about you. If for no other reason, if you don't think anything of the burden you're placing on yourself, then please try and ease the burden that you've put on everyone who cares about you. Please, tell me what's wrong."

Naruto's fists clenched to the point that he nearly drew blood, "…I'm sorry, but I can't talk about it."

"…I see…" Takahata sighed. Standing and walking over to the doorway, Takahata paused a moment, "Shizuna-sensei would like to keep you here for a couples of hours in case you blackout again. I've already given my consent. That won't be a problem, right?"

"No."

"Good. Sleep for a bit, Naruto, and if you feel better, try and join everyone at the party upstairs—it might cheer you up a bit."

The door shut behind him.

Naruto sighed, rubbing his forehead. Naruto didn't know why he refused to talk about it…ever since he was little, the memory was just marked as taboo in his mind. Was it force of habit? Did he think something would change if he talked about what he saw that day? Did he think they would come for him at the mention of their presence? Naruto grabbed his hair in frustration.

"Why can't I just get a damn answer?" Naruto sighed, "Just what am I even doing? Pretending that it never happened? Is that anyway to remember Kakashi-san? To remember Jiji? Why am I even trying to forget?"

"Maybe you're just insane?"

Naruto's head shot up as he felt someone sit on the end of his bed. He couldn't tell exactly what had decided to grace him with its presence—any light that seemed to reach for it died before it could, leaving Naruto with his view of a dark, indescribable mass of shadows that seemed to form in the shape of a person about his height.

"W-Who are you?"

"…Good question. My best guess would be that I might be you? But then I have no idea what I'm talking about, anyway. Do you? Know what you're talking about, I mean," the figure replied back.

"Stop playing around! Who are you and what are you doing here?" Naruto shouted, grasping the sheets of his bed and sitting straight up.

"Stopping yelling already, geez. If I knew what I was, I'd tell you, got it?" the figure replied, "It's your messed up little head, not mine."

"My…head?" Naruto blinked.

"Do we really have to go through this whole explanation thing? Look, you're dreaming—or maybe you're just crazy—maybe both, but that's beside the point," the figure got up and moved to the doorway, opening it. As it did, water began to flood in from the hallway, which now appeared to be something close to a very large sewer system. The figure hesitated to go out into the sewer and turned back to Naruto, "Well, are you coming or not?"

Naruto sighed. He was dreaming. At some point during his talk with Takamichi or right afterwards, he had fallen asleep. Pulling the covers over his head, he silently wished for the annoying dream to end while replying, "Just go by yourself."

"Can't," the figure shot back, sitting on Naruto's bed again, "There're a lot of scary things out there—I'm too afraid to go by myself…why don't we just talk?"

"…Whatever."

"Okay…um…oh, have you made up with Asuna yet?"

"No."

"Well, have you talked to Nodoka or Konoka about how you want to spend more time with them?"

"No."

"…Have you told Takahata about the incident?"

"No—are you just here to remind me of my failures?"

"I'm not here for anything…I think," the figure replied, "Why are you here?"

"Like I'd know."

"If that's the case, why do you think I'd know why I'm here?"

"…"

"Now you're just dodging my questions, aren't you, Naruto?"

"…"

"Are you just gonna mope around alone?"

"How can I be alone if you're here?"

"Am I here?" the figure replied, "This is a dream, isn't it?"

"…I don't know. Just go away."

"…Man, you're a real downer, you know that?"

"You just keep asking me questions and when I answer, you respond with another question," Naruto threw the covers off his head to look at the figure, "If you don't have anything better to do, than just let me wake up."

"I don't know how I would do that…why are you asking me, anyway? Do you normally rely on others so much?"

"…"

"Would you say you're a strong guy?"

"I don't know."

"Strong enough to face those guys who attacked Konoha?"

"No."

"Then why don't you get strong enough?"

"Just shut up."

"If it's not "just go away", it's "just shut up", huh? Well, fine."

"…"

"Hey, Naruto, did you know ninety-percent of people forget their dreams?"

"So?"

"When you wake up, don't forget me, alright?"

"What if I don't want to remember?"

"That's just selfish—erasing my existence just to make your life a little easier."

"Do you have an existence to forget?"

"…Good question. Do I?"

Naruto sighed.

"…I think that's all the time I have for tonight, Naruto."

"Good."

"I'll be waiting until the next time we meet."

Naruto sat up and looked around. The setting sun was now peaking through the window of the infirmary, falling across the room and illuminating it. Naruto looked around—no odd figure in sight, no water on the floor—just the normal infirmary. He had fallen asleep for maybe ten minutes and figured that Shizuna-sensei or Ako-senpai, the nurse and nurse-assistant, would be in to check on him in an hour or so. Standing up, Naruto walked over to the door and opened it. No sewers—just a normal hallway. Sighing, he left the room.

* * *

><p>Naruto walked down the halls, lost in his thought. Where was he going? He didn't know—he guessed he would eventually head up to that party, but even then, he wasn't sure what he would say when he got there. As he began to walk down a stairwell that past by a large window, revealing the twilight sky to him, he heard sobs drawing closer. Stopping at the top of the stairwell, Naruto found Asuna, tears leaking from her eyes, just a few steps below him.<p>

"…Hey," Naruto drawled weakly, scratching the back of his head.

"...Are you one of them, too?" Asuna mumbled, not looking up at the blond.

"One of what? Honestly, you're so stupid. Be a bit more specific before you—"

"Are you a mage?"

Naruto tensed, his wide eyes shooting down at Asuna, who still refused to look up at him, "…How do you know about those?"

"…Negi…used some type of magic to save you when you fell earlier…I saw and—"

"Damn, Negi, can't you keep a secret for even one day?" Naruto sighed, "…Well, I'm not exactly a mage, but yeah, I'm something like that."

"…I get it. So, that's what you've been hiding all this time, right? I'm guessing you can't make something like a love potion either, right?" Asuna muttered, clenching her fists.

"…Nope, to be honest, I was never good with magic—I have to use some cheap tricks to get around that if I want to do anything," Naruto sighed. Asuna nodded slightly and walked up the stairs between them, attempting to get past Naruto, only for the blond to stick his arm in her way. Asuna scowled, "Move."

"Not until you tell me what's going on," Naruto frowned.

"It doesn't concern you, so _move_!" Asuna shouted, shoving Naruto backwards. Naruto, caught off guard, stumbled backwards a few steps. Asuna once more began to walk past Naruto, only to be grabbed by the shoulders and twirled around, forced to look her ex-friend in the eyes. Asuna growled, "Let go of me!"

"No!" Naruto roared, "Don't think you can just show up crying in front of me and try to get away like it's nothing!"

Asuna had been pushed to the brink of her limits today—it was all just too much for her to take in. Finally, her frustration and anger boiled over—she reached up and slapped Naruto across the face as tears began to pour out of her eyes even faster. Naruto lost his grip on Asuna and she took two steps back, and glared at him.

"I told you that it's none of your business! Why would anything matter to you? Ever since we were little, all you've done is keep secrets from me, from Konoka—from everyone! You never once trusted us with anything! How can you say we were ever friends, then?" Asuna shouted, "You're nothing like Takahata-sensei, even if you're his son! He's nice and kind…and now he's too embarrassed to even look at me! If you were more like him, maybe you would be a somewhat decent friend!"

Asuna flinched slightly as she saw anger and rage enter Naruto's eyes and the boy raise a fist. She shut her eyes tightly as she saw the fist become a blur of movement…and opened them again when she heard it collide with flesh and felt nothing. Naruto was now sporting a rather large bruise on his cheek where he had punched himself as well as a sharp red tone of skin on his fist, showing how hard he had punched. Naruto let out a small growled as he talked, "You're right—I'm a horrible friend. I'm nothing like Otousan. I have kept secrets from anyone—far too many for it to be alright. But…"

Naruto shot his sapphire eyes into Asuna's blue and green eyes.

"Don't say it doesn't concern me…when my friend is hurt," Naruto stated, "I won't let you just go off and pretend you're alone, Asuna, because you're not! As long as we're friends, I'll make sure you're never alone, so whatever is bothering you, whatever is hurting you, tell me! Because I promise that I will help you through it."

"…Do _you_ even _consider _us friends anymore?" Asuna whispered as she broke eye contact, her gaze sinking to the floor.

"…I know I've said some stupid things…but that's because I'm an idiot who can't understand a thing!" Naruto replied after a moment. He stepped over to Asuna and gently raised her head once more to meet his soften gaze, "You are and always have been my friend, Asuna, and I'm sorry for being a horrible one in return. But I'll change that from now on…so don't forget that, alright?"

"I…Idiot!" Asuna cried, falling into a hug from her friend and crying into his chest, hitting him on the shoulder lightly.

"I know I am," Naruto smiled lightly, rubbing her head. Naruto wasn't sure how much longer they stayed like that, but he figured it couldn't have been even five minutes before he and Asuna saw a blinding flash, and looked at the bottom of the stairwell to see a blushing Negi and a group of 2-A students.

"No, Asuna-chan, you can't take my cute kohai away from me!" Chao shouted from the group.

"N-N-Naruto-kun?" Nodoka blushed, seeing her two childhood friends sharing such a warm moment.

"You see, Negi? I told you they really cared for each other!" Konoka shouted happily.

"Naru-nii, you really haven't changed!" Negi grinned happily, "Are you and Asuna-san dating now?"

Asakura Kazumi had a sly grin on her face as she looked over the picture she had gotten, "Perfect for an article…"

"W-What? N-No! This is all a big misunderstanding!" Asuna blushed, shouting at her classmates, "Asakura, give me that camera!"

"N-Now, calm down, Asuna-san!" Asakura spoke, backing away slightly.

"A…"

"Oi, Asuna, just because we made up doesn't mean I'll let you break the rules! No fights between students!" Naruto shouted.

"A…ah…"

"Gah! You and those stupid rules!"

"Hey, don't pick on my sweet kohai, Asuna-yo!"

"W-What? C-Chao-san, don't g-grab Naruto-kun like that!"

"C-Chao, I told you to stop doing stuff like this!"

"ACHOO!"

"M-My clothes!"

"W-Was that t-the wind?"

"Um…Nodoka-san fainted, guys."

Negi tried to slowly edge away from the chaos that he, along with other factors, had caused. He was almost safely down the hall when someone gripped him by the shoulder tightly and a chill ran up his neck. Turning slowly, Negi's heart leapt into his throat when he found what appeared to be a blushing, mad demon standing behind him with an insane grin on his face.

"**Negi…what did I tell you about that…?"** Naruto muttered, entering "Discipline Mode". Negi now understood why students had declared Naru-nii the scariest thing on campus.

* * *

><p>"That was awful…" Asuna sighed. The moon was set high in the night's sky by the time the party had ended. Naruto had been checked over by Shizuna-sensei and had ended up with a clean bill of health once more and now walked beside her and Negi as they made their way to their respective dorms. Konoka was a little ways ahead of them, just out of earshot as they talked. Asuna turned to Negi, "This is your fault you know!"<p>

"I can't help it—I'm still trying to get control over my powers," Negi shrugged.

"But why do those powers have to break the rules?" Naruto grumbled, an annoyed twitch reaching his eye.

"Quite, you," Asuna shot back, before turning to Negi again, "Anyway, so you're smart and you can use magic, but you're still a real kid, aren't you? How are you going to be a teacher?"

'_That's right…today didn't really go well. I got my magic discovered, too…can I really be a teacher?' _Negi wondered.

"Eh, he'll do fine."

Negi and Asuna looked to Naruto, who stretched one arm towards the sky and used the other to stifle a yawn.

"Even though you mess up a lot, you can always find a way to get the job done, Negi. I don't have a doubt in my mind that you'll be a good teacher," Naruto smiled lightly, "And if you break the rules, I'll be there to set you straight."

"Geez, rules, rules, rules…" Asuna shook her head, sighing, "…You still need a place to stay, don't you, Negi? Well, I might have been a bit unfair earlier. If you want to stay with me and Konoka, you can…because I think Naruto's right—if you try hard, I'm sure you'll be a great teacher one day, too."

"R-Right, I'll try my best! Thank you!" Negi smiled, stopping as Naruto and Asuna continued on. Negi pulled out his class roster and pen and opened to the page where he had drawn on Asuna's picture. Due to her anger toward him, he had already scribbled devil horns on her picture… Negi began to scribble away once more.

"Hey, Negi, hurry up!"

"She's right, curfew is in a few minutes—if you break it, I won't forgive you!"

"Coming!" Negi called back, running to catch them. Gone were Asuna's devil horns, replaced with two, short phrases:

"_She's nice after all!"_

"_Naru-nii's close friend."_

* * *

><p>Okay, and that's the first chapter. For those of you who wanted to see training or Naruto's early days in Mahora, they will be shown periodically in flashbacks and maybe with future chapters dedicated to them. Naruto's Discipline Mode will be seen more clearly in the next few chapters, but most of his fighting skills will be shown during the Baka-RangersLibrary Arc and Evangeline Arc. Also, for those of you confused about Naruto, here's the basic information:

Naruto Takahata/Uzumaki

Nickname: Shikei (Death Penalty).

Notable Traits: Mahora Academy Student, Head/Founder of the "Mahora Disciplinary Committee", Son/Student of Takamichi "Death Glasses" Takahata, Older Brother-Figure of Negi.

Abilities: (More will be shown as they are revealed in story)

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Prefers to fight with hands)

Discipline Mode—Naruto is normally easy-going, until someone breaks Mahora's rules and/or endangers the students, faculty, buildings, or grounds of Mahora, in which case he becomes a killing-machine and his power is multiplied depending on the threat level (see chart below).

Example of Threat Level Multiplication Chart for Discipline Mode:_(Note: As Power Multiplies, Naruto's Appearance Becomes More Frightening/Demonic) _

x2—Not following dress code, being late, sleeping during class, etc. (Light/Minor Offences) _Stage 1: Annoyed Naruto_  
>x4—Not attending class, disrupting class, etc. (Slightly More Serious Offences) <em>Stage 2: Angry Naruto<em>  
>x8—Bullying, Harassment, Being a Member of a Gang, Defacing School Property, etc. (Serious Offences) <em>Stage 3: Demon Naruto<em>  
>x16—HeadingCreating a Gang, Gang's Claiming Mahora Turf, Student-Teacher Relationships, etc. (Very Serious Offences) _Stage 4: "Shikei" Naruto_  
>x100—Destroying Mahora Property, Endangering the Lives of Students and Faculty. <strong>(<strong>_**Unforgivable.**_**) **_Stage 5: "Shinigami" Naruto_


	2. If You Disrupt Class

Okay folks! Back with the second chapter! Now, I'll keep updating Naruto's "Character Info" at the bottom of each chapter as I update the story, so many of your questions about Naruto will be added in over time. But, before we begin, let's respond to some reviews!

**NeoNoble: **Naruto's personality and looks are based on two characters. His looks and stricter side are based on Hibari. His softer and nicer side is based more on a character named Dojima from a game called Persona 4.

**XiaoSan:** I'm glad to hear you liked the Naruto-Chao interaction. As for ellipses, yeah, I agree that I use a lot of them, most of the time not for emphasis but to show that the character speaking paused a little bit or is going over something in their minds while talking or is thinking carefully about what to say next. My writing style changed a lot in the time I've been on this sight but my addiction to ellipses is one thing that hasn't changed. As for students joining that committee, trust me, I have some plans. As for Naruto's 'Discipline Mode', it's not so much as his power multiplies, but it isn't purely Killing Intent, though that is half of it. It will be fully explained this chapter.

**Vandenbz: **The Elemental Nations are in a remote part of the alternate magical world, but that will only really be important once we get to that arc. I got the whole "Konoha Attacked" idea from me questioning why Akatsuki just didn't attack full-force if Pein easily wiped out Konoha, the supposed "strongest" of the nations, but I only came up with the whole 'secrecy thing', too. As for whether any other Naruto characters will show up, I can say that a few will show up (excluding Akatsuki, they will all show up) and a few will play major roles, but not at least until after the Kyoto arc. Pairings, well, I'm trying to keep it more of what someone infers, but there are a few chosen already, most obviously Asuna and Chao. One or two more will be really easily shown this chapter, but I don't really want to just come out and say what they are.

**Path-of-Otaku: **Asuna and Chao can be picked out easily, but rather than outright saying the pairings, I'd like to let them reveal themselves over time. One or two more will be revealed in this chapter. If you really, really want to know, you can just 'pm' me and I'll tell you.

**Orchamus: **The Elemental Nations are located in a very, very remote region of the magical world. It won't really play a role in the story until the Magical World Arc.

**mk14ebr: **You're laidback? Every time you review, you talk about killing me! Well, anyway, I'm glad I was there to bring the mood down! Schadenfreude, my friend. Oh, sweet schadenfreude.

**Jrf Steel: **Naruto is fourteen, the 2-A/3-A girls are all fifteen currently, and Negi's ten. Akatsuki will certainly be making appearances, but not for some time now. Naruto is probably a low-level ANBU or an extremely high-level chūnin—in other words, any Akatsuki member would completely wipe the floor with him in a matter of seconds, currently. Naruto isn't done getting stronger yet, he'll still progress quite a bit throughout the story.

**reven228: **Naruto so far has only learned what Takahata has been shown to know. He hasn't learned any jutsu from the Kyuubi. I take it when you say "something in the middle", you mean that he'll get stronger as the story progresses? If so, then yeah, that's where most of his strength will come from.

**SpeeDemon: **Actually, I got the idea for Naruto's past and Konoha's destruction from the way that Pein completely decimated Konoha single-handedly. I figured with all of Akatsuki, it'd be a blood bath—go figure, right?

**Rezuvious: **Hm…it's hard to say whether Naruto will really change his stance about the rules. I based him on real psychological commonalities—there have been numerous cases which support the idea that people who have lost their homes from an early age tend to support strictly things that protect what they deem their current home, such as rules.

**granasaber master: **Naruto is fourteen.

**Lazruth: **Well, if it really annoys you so much, I'm not quite sure how you'll like how the story will play out. It's really hard to say at this point whether Naruto will change about the rules. I based that aspect on real life situations where psychological patients who lost their homes at an early age generally strictly support things that protect their homes, such as rules.

**Axel yamamoto: **Well, I'd rather not just blatantly list the pairings. I can say that Asuna and Chao are the obvious two currently and others will be hinted at too. If you really want me to tell you the pairings, you can just pm me about it and I'll tell you them.

**Vongola Maelstrom: **I'd rather keep the pairings in hints and let them develop before I actually state them flat out, but if you really want to know, just pm me and I'll tell you.

**Swanboy: **Yes, some aspects of Naruto such as the Discipline Mode and Discipline Committee are based off of Hibari, but more than likely he won't use a pair of tonfa. Naruto's fighting skills will rely mostly on his fists, and the only way I could see him using tonfa is maybe through a pactio. But even then, I'd base a pactio of a legend or history, and to my knowledge, there isn't a pair of legendary tonfa. Sorry.

**Lord Naruto: **I'm glad you enjoyed the story. To answer your question, Naruto's calling of Chao "sempai" doesn't have to do with age as much as class. Naruto is a first-year student while the girls are all second-years. He normally foregoes the honorific with people he's known for a longer time, like Asuna, Konoka, or Nodoka.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Negima.

* * *

><p><em>Asuna blushed, looking down at the steaming cup in her hands. Behind her stood Negi, with a smile on his face as he held a bucket of liquid with a heart drawn onto it, but more importantly, in front of her stood Takahata, who smiled softly at her. They were in one of the many halls of Mahora Academy, with the setting sun illuminating it through the windows, though Asuna was too caught up in her thoughts to notice her surroundings.<em>

"_T…Takahata-sensei, I…um…I made some tea," Asuna mumbled, blushing, "Would you like some?"_

_Takahata took the drink, glancing at it before chuckling, "This is a love potion, isn't it? Don't bother with it, Asuna-chan."_

"_W-What do you mean?" Asuna gasped._

"_I mean I've been in love with you for awhile now," Takahata smiled, stepping closer to her, "Asuna-chan…"_

"_T…Takahata-sensei…" Asuna breathed, closing her eyes as she expected a kiss to meet her lips._

"…_Did you really think something like that would happen?"_

"_E-Eh?" Asuna's eyes shot open to see Naruto standing there smirking at her, her handsome and heroic Takahata-sensei gone. Naruto laughed at her, walking up to her._

"_I told you—as long as I'm around, I won't let you near Takahata-sensei," Naruto smirked, "Got it, Bear-Panties-chan? Now wake up!"_

"Wha...?" Asuna shot up in her bed. She took a moment to notice her surroundings—she was in her room, it was nighttime, and more importantly, Takahata-sensei was not there confessing his love to her. Growling, Asuna grabbed the cell-phone that sat on the railing of her bunk-bed and angrily punched in a number.

* * *

><p>Naruto groaned as he sat up, the annoying sound of his ringtone waking him from his peaceful slumber. Throwing back his covers and grabbing the phone that lay on his nightstand, he flipped it open and held it to his ear.<p>

"Hello?" Naruto said rather groggily.

"I _**HATE **_you, Takahata Naruto!" sounded the loud, angry reply. Naruto held the phone at arm's length as he waited for the ringing in his ears to stop. Holding the phone up to his ear once more, he found that the caller, Asuna, if his phone was correct, had hung up.

Naruto settled back down in his bed, "…There had better be a _damn _good explanation for this one."

* * *

><p>Asuna sighed as she set her phone back down, lying back down in her bed and shutting her eyes. Oh, she would be getting it for that one tomorrow, she knew that, but for now, the vent for her frustration was well worth it. Asuna knew she wasn't smart by any means. She still considered it the stupidest decision in her life that, when she and Naruto were still only little kids, she allowed her crush on his father to slip out. She sighed, "Hah…a love potion, huh? Even if I did get something like that, there's no way I'd get a chance to use it with that annoying rules-freak there…"<p>

"Hn…Onee-chan…"

"Huh?" Asuna blinked, suddenly aware that she was not alone in her bed. Looking to her left, she found Negi lying next to her, blissfully asleep. It took Asuna all of three seconds to process the information and respond accordingly.

"W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED?" Asuna screamed, shoving Negi over the side of the bunk-bed and sending him to the floor. Negi hit the floor with a thud, muttering a weak "Ouch" as he rubbed his sore back. Looking up at Asuna's angry, blushing face, he realized what had happened and jumped to his feet, bowing his head in apology.

"S-Sorry, Asuna-san, I'm used to sleeping with Onee-chan and I—"

"Y-You're supposed to be a teacher, so act like one! I let you use the sofa, didn't I?" Asuna shouted, throwing a pillow down at Negi. Before Negi could retort, the beeping of Asuna's alarm clock broke out over the noise of their argument. Asuna looked to her clock, a startled look on her face, before she jumped out of her bed and ran to the bathroom, "Crap! It's almost five already!"

Negi watched in a daze of confusion and amazement as Asuna had managed to go through her morning routine in a matter of seconds before charging out the door, not looking back once. Negi scratched the back of his head, "Where is Asuna-san off to?"

"Hm? Oh, it's her part time job," Konoka answered sleepily as she sat up in her bed, stretching her arms. Konoka moved out of her bed while stifling a yawn and headed towards the kitchen, "You don't mind eggs for breakfast, right, Negi-sensei?"

"Eggs are fine," Negi replied, staring out the window of the dorm, _'It's already my second day here at Mahora. I didn't get to see Naru-nii much yesterday…I wonder what he's up to now.'_

* * *

><p>Ku Fei sighed to herself lightly as she walked down the street. Her training that morning had gone uninterrupted, as always. Her students and fellow club members from the Chinese Martial Arts Society were still no match for her, as always, and had run off to find someone that they could fight with on an even level. She had practiced the same moves without a hitch or mistake, as always. As always, as always, as always…that's all Ku Fei really thought about lately. She was, to put it blatantly, bored out of her skull. Don't get her wrong, she still loved Chinese kenpo with all her heart, but without a partner she could go all-out on, without someone who could last five minutes in a hand-to-hand fight, without someone who could actually make her lose, it got boring being the best.<p>

'_Maybe if I started to challenge people with one arm behind my back? Or would that be insulting-aru?' _Ku Fei frowned to herself, stepping onto the large plaza in front of the World Tree. The girl was far too caught up in her thoughts to notice the outside world, let alone the commotion going on in front of her.

"**I don't give a damn if you think it will help you train, fighting between students is strictly forbidden!"**

'_Maybe if I blindfold myself-aru?'_

"H-He's a demon! Run! Run!"

"**Don't think you can get away from me, filth!"**

"Holy—! Did he just _shatter _freaking _stone_?"

'_Or what if I limit myself to only attacking twice?'_

"He just threw Sorachi over the World Tree! What kind of monster is h—ack!"

"Yasushi, no!"

"**If you break the rules, you should expect no mercy from me!"**

'_Or what if I—huh?' _Ku Fei looked up to see a blond boy tossing the last of her students over his shoulder and onto a large pile made out of about fifty of her other students. The blond wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead and brushed off any dirt that got on his pants, humming lightly to himself. When he was done, he scratched the back of his head lazily and proceeded to walk away, "Well, what was that? Fifty or so? Fifty more to go to fill today's quota…"

"H-Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing-aru?" Ku Fei shouted to him as she ran in front of him. Naruto frowned as he found his path blocked and scratched the back of his head once more out of habit.

"Hm? I think I was just finishing up taking down the…" Naruto reached into his pant pocket and pulled out a small notepad, reading off the name at the top of the list, "…Ichiban gang that's made the Shopping District their turf."

Ku Fei stared at Naruto in awe and shock, "T-That wasn't a gang! Those were my students-aru!"

"Students?" Naruto blinked.

"The Chinese Martial Arts Society!"

"Oh…" Naruto frowned, pulling out a pen and flipping open to a fresh page in his notepad. Ku Fei watched in confusion, her anger growing steadily as Naruto scribbled away lazily before he ripped the page out. Walking over to the pile of unconscious students, he carefully placed the paper on one of the member's foreheads before attempting to walk off in a different direction. With Naruto no longer blocking her view of the paper, Ku Fei was now free to see what he had written on it.

"_My bad."_

—_Takahata Naruto_

Ku Fei angrily stomped over to Naruto, grabbing him by the shoulder and turning him to look her in the eyes. She glared, "Your bad-aru? You knocked my entire club unconscious! All you have to say is 'my bad'?"

"What? Did you want me to say something else?" Naruto frowned, "They still broke the rules by fighting with each other and I gave them the proper punishment."

Ku Fei growled, "I won't forgive you for this-aru! You're gonna pay!"

"Do I look like I'm out for forgiveness?" Naruto shook his head, "Whatever. Can I go now?"

By this point, Ku Fei's frustration had boiled over into anger, which had boiled over into a strong hatred of the boy in front of her. If there was one thing Ku Fei couldn't stand, it was when someone hurt her friends—a match was one thing, but outright beating them down for attempting to practice and then refusing them a passing glance? Unforgiveable. Ku Fei's arm launched out and would've connected with Naruto's chin had he not stepped back to avoid the blow.

"Oh? Starting a fight between students, are you? **I won't forgive you," **Naruto glared darkly. Ku Fei ignored him and brought her leg up in a kick to his side, only to be surprised as Naruto ducked under her leg and got behind her. Without hesitation, Naruto slammed his fist into Ku Fei's back. Ku Fei went flying to the ground, and was forced to stretch her hands out and somersault away from her opponent. Turning, Ku Fei found that Naruto had wasted no time in closing the distance between them again, and was bringing a fist down on her once more. Jumping out of the way, Ku Fei's eyes nearly jumped out of her head as she noticed the cobblestone ground that Naruto's fist hit shattered like glass.

'_S-Such raw strength-aru…' _Ku Fei thought to herself as she ran at Naruto. As soon as Ku Fei was in striking distance, Naruto launched a right hook at the girl, which she ducked under and sidestepped to get to his open side. Mustering all her anger and energy, Ku Fei launched a punch deep into Naruto's side. This time, Ku Fei was sure her eyes did pop out of her skull. Whereas any of her students would have been knocked back and to the ground a good few feet away and perhaps even unconscious, Naruto was not only standing but didn't even budge as he took the attack, the only sign that it hurt him being the grunt he let out.

Sapphire eyes looked deeply into Ku Fei's amber ones as Naruto growled,** "Oi, that freaking hurt."**

The next thing Ku Fei knew was that something connected with her chin—_hard. _Before she knew it, she had a bird's-eye view of the entire plaza as she was sent twirling into the air and landed on top of the pile of her unconscious students. The blow to her chin proved to be a bit too much for Ku Fei, who was already tired from training that morning, as the last thing she noticed before blacking out was that Naruto had scribbled and left another note at the bottom of the mountain that was her students.

"_Get to class on time."_

—_Takahata Naruto_

* * *

><p><em>*BZZT—Attention all students. As a message from Disciplinary Committee Head, Takahata Naruto-san, he would like to remind everyone that those who disrupt class will be given an early grave.*<em>

Asuna instantly thought of several smart comments she had about the announcement as she made her way to class that morning, but chose to withhold them for now. Instead, she opted to glare at Negi, who ran beside her, Konoka already ahead of both of them with her skates. Negi noticed her glare and looked away sheepishly, causing Asuna to sigh, "Geez…you know I was late for my job because of you, right? I shouldn't have let you stay with us. Ayaka can fit one more person and would be more than happy to—"

"B-But it wasn't my fault!" Negi retorted, frowning. Even if he said this, Negi figured that he might have been at fault—after all, he did distract Asuna-san that morning, and thus felt obligated to make it up to her somehow. Negi fell silent as he thought for a moment, before realization hit him, "Ah, Asuna-san, do you remember that love potion you mention yesterday? Well, if you give me four months, I think I can make it for you."

"R-Really?" Asuna shouted, "You can make it?"

Before she knew it, Asuna was lost in her thoughts of Takahata-sensei. Sure, four months was a long time, but considering she had been waiting for years for an opportunity like this, she could manage. Oh, this made dealing with that brat Negi all too worth it. This made all those years of enduring Ayaka's pokes at her crush seemed like nothing. Nothing could go wrong, nothing could get in her way now tha—

"Make what?" Naruto blinked, walking up to the duo. And just as soon as her happiness began, it came crashing down around Asuna as she stared at Naruto in horror as he greeted his little brother.

"A lo—mph!" Negi suddenly found Asuna's hand clamped over his mouth as she gave Naruto a sweet, disarming smile and forced a laugh. Asuna smiled, "W-What he means to say is that he's trying to make a long-lasting impression on his students!"

Naruto shot her a weird look, but shrugged and seemingly bought the answer, "…Alright? Well, I'm going to go on ahead. I'll meet you at the fountain after school, Negi."

Asuna kept her fake smile until Naruto had completely disappeared into the crowd. Once he was gone, she turned to Negi with an angry glare on her face, "Are you an idiot? If Naruto found out about this, he'd never let us get away with it! Use your head!"

"B-But, if Naru-nii finds out that I lied to him, he'll…" Negi gulped, trailing off.

"Don't worry about that—Naruto won't find out. He'll just think that Takahata finally came to his senses and realized his love for me!" Asuna grinned proudly, while Negi sweat-dropped.

"W-Will he now?" Negi sighed—Naru-nii would kill him for this.

"Now if I could only find a distraction for Naruto…" Asuna sighed. Finding a distraction for Naruto would be tough—the boy was always vigilant, always watching for anything out of place. He was like an impenetrable fortress that surrounded Mahora Academy, a never-endi—

"A distraction for Naruto-kun? Consider it done!" Asakura grinned, stepping up to the pair, "I owe you for yesterday's incident, anyway."

"A-Asakura? H-How much did you just hear?" Asuna shouted, jumping up while Negi broke out in a cold sweat and began to panic. Had his secret been exposed to even more of his students already?

"Hm? Just that you needed to distract Naruto-kun. Why? Was there something I should've heard?" Asakura grinned slyly, bringing out her notepad and pencil.

"N-No!" Asuna responded, "But what did you mean when you said you had a distraction for Naruto?"

Asakura laughed, "Well, you won't believe this from our stony, cold Naruto-kun, but…"

* * *

><p>"<em>Hm? A 'Disciplinary Committee'? Why would you want to create something like that?" Takahata questioned, setting aside his cup of coffee and glancing over the top of the morning newspaper at his son, who looked back with fiery enthusiasm. Naruto had arrived at Mahora a year ago now, and was already absolutely in love with the place and the people who lived there. After all, in Mahora, he had "Asu-chan", "Kono-chan", and "Nodo-chan" to play with. Konoemon looked after the boy like he was his grandfather and Shizuna always welcomed Naruto's presence at the infirmary. Even the normally strict, stern Nitta had been surprisingly warm around the boy.<em>

"_To protect it, of course!" Naruto declared proudly, as if he had stated some great truth of the universe, getting Takahata to chuckle a bit, "If any bad guys show up, I'll scare them off! Isn't it a good idea, Taka-outo?"_

"_It certainly sounds like an interesting idea for a club to have one day, Naruto, and there are already a lot of clubs in Mahora, so adding something like that wouldn't be too much of a problem…" Takahata mused, smiling as he watched his son light up with joy. Ever since he had first seen them, Naruto had a love of superheroes. The idea of a strong, valiant, truthful hero of justice driving off villains and saving the common people seemed to hypnotize the boy._

"_Cool! Just you wait, Otousan, I'll beat all the bad guys!" Naruto cheered, pumping his fist in the air and grinning happily._

"_But…" Takahata chuckled as he watched Naruto slump back in his chair, looking like someone told him the world was ending._

"_But?" Naruto pouted, knowing that a catch was about to rear its ugly head._

"_But, if you want to start a club or anything like it, you need a teacher or faculty member to agree to be that club's supervisor," Takahata explained._

"_A teacher, huh? Hm…" Naruto frowned, scratching his head as he fell into a state of deep thought._

"…" _Takahata smiled and waited for the inevitable._

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…_Naru—"_

"_That's it! Otousan, you could be my supervisor, couldn't you?" Naruto questioned. Takahata had to resist chuckling at the way Naruto resemble a puppy begging for food—all he had to add was a wagging tail and the image would be perfect._

"_Yes, I could, but that would be a bit too easy for a superhero, wouldn't it?" Takahata replied, "The best superheroes never take the easy way out, right, Naruto?"_

"_That's right!" Naruto nodded._

"_So, why don't you look for someone else to be your supervisor when the time comes?" Takahata finished. To be honest, the only reason Takahata didn't take up the opportunity was because of the fact that he was already the supervisor of nearly thirteen clubs as it was, and it would only leave Naruto's idea for a club neglected. Of course, had Takahata said this, Naruto would have insisted that "Taka-outo is the best there is! He could be the supervisor of…um…one-hundred clubs!"_

"_Well, I'm off to find me a supervisor, Taka-outo!" Naruto declared happily as he jumped from his seat and ran out the door. _

"_N-Naruto, wait, you're…" Takahata heard the front door slam shut, sighed, and lit a cigarette while chuckling lightly, "You're too young to start a club…"_

* * *

><p>"…<em>Phooey," Naruto pouted, kicking his feet in the sand as he sat on the shore of the bay that ran through Mahora. Shizuna-sensei had been too busy to be his supervisor, Konoemon-san was in a meeting and he hadn't been able to see him, Nitta-san had said that he was too young to start a club…everyone had come up with some type of excuse to reject being Naruto's supervisor. Naruto traced a picture of himself as a superhero in the sand with his finger, sighing, 'W…Well who needs them, anyway! I'll show them just how good an idea this is one day! I'll become a superhero and protect Mahora from those bad men that hurt Konoha!'<em>

"_Hey, you alright?"_

"_Eh?" Naruto looked up to see a girl about his age smiling down at him. Her warm chocolate brown eyes with filled with happiness, evident by the grin on her face, and her brunette hair was pulled into a single ponytail off to the side of her head. The girl blinked at Naruto's surprised face and straightened out her sundress, "Are you alright?"_

_Naruto felt his face heat up a bit, "W-Why wouldn't I be?"_

_The girl sat down next him, giggling, "Because you're moping around on the beach by yourself!"_

"_I'm not moping!" Naruto pouted, turning his head._

"_My mom says that high spirits are the strongest, so you can't mope, understand?" the girl smiled._

"_High spirits? How is that going to help me?" Naruto blinked in confusion._

"_So you do have a problem!" the girl giggled, "As for how it's gonna help…um…I don't know?"_

"_Man," Naruto sighed, "If only I could get a teacher to listen to me…"_

"_A teacher? Is that all you need?" the girl blinked, standing up and grabbing Naruto's hand to pull him up to._

"_W-What are you doing?" Naruto blushed._

"_C'mon—my dad's a teacher! He might be able to help you!" the girl grinned, "Oh, by the way, you never told me your name!"_

"_T…Takahata Naruto," Naruto blushed heavier when he heard the girl giggle again._

"_Well, my name is—"_

_(End Flashback)_

"Naruto has a crush on Yuna? Mmph!" Asuna shouted in shock, only to find Asakura covering her mouth with her hand. Asakura looked around carefully as if Asuna had just said some great secret that could lead to the end of all that is good. When she saw that no one appeared to hear, Asakura sighed and dropped her hand, turning to look Asuna in the eyes, "Not so loud, Asuna-san! Do you know what will happen to me if Naruto-kun finds out I know about this? He'll kill me!"

Asuna looked back to see Negi distracted by a butterfly floating by—if Negi told Naruto about this, it would be deadly. Asuna looked back to Asakura, "Our Yuna? Akashi Yuna-san? Why would Naruto have a crush on Yuna?"

"Beats me—apparently it's something that happened when they were kids and she ended up helping him get his Disciplinary Committee founded," Asakura shrugged, "But if you just ask Yuna to go talk to Naruto about something, then he'll be completely distracted for a good half-hour!"

"D…Does Yuna know about the crush?" Asuna blinked.

"She has absolutely no clue," Asakura smiled, "So it works out perfectly."

"I guess…" Asuna frowned. She should be happy, right? Takahata-sensei would finally be hers…the thought overjoyed her, but…there was something in the back of her mind, telling her and warning her that this would all end horribly wrong. Still, the idea of Takahata-sensei quickly won out in Asuna's mind as she realized that she had five more minutes to get to class, Negi having left her behind some time ago.

* * *

><p>"Alright, so that one <em>had <em>to be the Ichiban gang!" Naruto nodded at his reasoning as he shut away his notepad once more. Ignoring the fact that there was now a large pile of bodies right on the middle of the road and with his daily quota of one-hundred delinquents met, Naruto continued on his merry way to meet his little brother figure at the fountain. Walking down the street, Naruto blinked in surprise when he saw Negi walking sluggishly in front of him.

"Oi, Negi, how was class today?" Naruto grinned, running up to Negi.

Negi sighed, turning to meet his older brother with weary eyes, "Terrible."

"**Someone disrupted class, did they? I see…simply tell me their name, Negi, and I shall smite—"**

"N-No, it's nothing like that, Naru-nii," Negi sighed once more as the scary look on Naru-nii's face disappeared. Naruto scratched the back of his head once more in confusion, staring down at Negi, "Well, if it's not that, then what happened?"

"Asuna-san is angry with me again," Negi frowned.

"Oh, is that all?" Naruto snorted, relief obviously washing over his form.

"It's serious, Naru-nii! Asuna-san's mean when she's angry!" Negi cried as the duo finally reached the fountain in the middle of one of the many plazas at Mahora. Naruto laid back against the concrete of the fountain, placing both of his hands behind his head to use as pillows and closed his eyes like he would fall asleep while Negi sat next to him, fiddling with his class roster.

"Asuna's probably forgotten about it by now, Negi, whatever you did. She's real easy to figure out, usually," Naruto replied, "Just do something nice for her and she'll forget that you ever pissed her off in the first place."

"Are you sure?" Negi blinked.

"Positive," Naruto nodded, "…Has anyone been disrupting your class?"

"Um…no?" Negi answered, sweat-dropping as Naruto's expression seemingly became one of disappointment at his answer.

"…Asuna's not planning anything that I should know about?"

"No," Negi replied.

"…Good."

Believe it or not, Negi's slightly panicked, sweating form right now was merely a cover-up—he was far more panicked and completely fearing for his life on the inside right now. One of his students, Chao Lingshen, had come in to class today and announced that he was Naruto's little brother—the looks he received from his class told him that the fear of Naru-nii was widespread. Negi, naturally curious as he is, decided to ask questions of Naru-nii's more interesting…feats. Apparently, his Naru-nii was, to this day, the only person in the entire school who has been documented to have thrown the same student from one end of Mahora all the way to the other—seven times. _The same student. __Seven times._ Granted, that same student was in charge of a gang, but Negi didn't want to find out how much he would lessen the punishment for making the love potion—if he even did lessen it. The phrase "walking on thin ice" was a vast, vast understatement—Negi felt the phrase "walking on a cloud" would fit much better. After all, it was all going to end with him making a "splat" on the pavement, he just knew it.

"…Well, if you're positive that nothing else is wrong, I'll just be on my way then. Remember, Asuna's mad all the time—just give her a few seconds to cool down and she's back to normal," Naruto patted Negi's head and stood, stifling a yawn before walking away. Negi suddenly had the feeling as though a gun held to his head had just been lifted and let out an enormous sigh of relief. As his arms moved from his sigh, they knocked into the small pouch of magical items that he had brought with him from Wales, knocking out a small test-tube with several pills inside.

"Eh? Those are…" Negi's eyes widened in surprise as he grabbed the pills, grinning happily, "The "Seven Colored Magical Pills" that grandfather gave me way back when! If…If I use this, I might be able to make that love potion for Asuna today!"

Nodding to himself with newfound courage, Negi charged off, pills in hand, to complete his potion and get back on Asuna's good side.

* * *

><p>"So, you think Asuna-san is up to something-ne?" Chao smiled as she wiped a glass clean. Naruto sighed, picking at his order of tempura. That was another habit Naruto had taken up—whenever he needed advice or help with something, Chao always coached him on what to do along with serving him a meal at the Chao-Bao-Zi at a discount. Satsuki had whole-heartedly agreed to the discount after Naruto had gotten rid of a gang that caused some trouble at the Chao-Bao-Zi when it had first opened, and made sure to whack him on the head with a ladle each time he stubbornly refused the discount.<p>

"It's Asuna—she's always up to something," Naruto sighed, "But now she's corrupting Negi! Some big brother I am…he's here a total of two days and I've already sent him down the path to destruction…"

"Are you sure you aren't overreacting?" Chao smiled, "Honestly, my sweet kohai, you should relax more often. You're so stressed! How about a date? It will take your mind of things-ne."

"Why do I come to you for advice?" Naruto downed his green tea in one gulp like it was alcohol.

"Because you honestly care about my opinion—just another example of your love for me-ne! My life-counseling is completely guaranteed, my lovely kohai!" Chao beamed, "Oh, did I tell you that we're getting a new employee?"

"A new employee? Who?" Naruto blinked.

"Oh, you wouldn't know her, but she's a good friend of mine-ne!" Chao set the now clean glass aside and picked up another, "She got into some trouble this morning, though. She wasn't even in class."

"What happened? Did she get sick?" Naruto questioned as he finished his meal.

"Not sure. There's a rumor going around that it had something to do with that gang that's been making a ruckus lately…what were they called again? Ichiban-ne! That's it—the Ichiban gang!" Chao nodded, wiping the glass clean.

Naruto smiled proudly, "Well, you'll be glad to hear that the Ichiban won't be plaguing the Shopping District anymore. I just took care of them a couple of hours ago."

Chao blinked, giving Naruto an incredulous stare, before sighing, "My lovely kohai…the Ichiban don't bother to go to the Shopping District. They made the coffee shop their turf."

"W-What? But then who was—"

"The Archery Club often walks through the Shopping District to get to their training spot…are you sure you didn't get them by mistake-ne?" Chao rested her head on her hand as she leaned over the counter.

"That would explain why they got desperate and started to fire arrows…" Naruto's head slumped against the counter is depression. Chao giggled a bit and patted his head, causing Naruto to sigh deeper, "Akashi-sensei won't let me off easy for this one…"

"Professor Akashi will understand…again-ne. I think he expects your slip-ups by now, my handsome kohai," Chao smiled lightly. That was another part of Naruto that made Chao love to be around him—she didn't necessarily have to find ways to tease him, because he often did that himself. When Naruto personally saw someone breaking the rules, he was more reliable than anyone in the world. Tell him to find and punish a delinquent, though, and you would be better off just tossing a rock out a window and hoping that it hit the delinquent. If you sent Naruto on a search-and-destroy mission, he would accomplish it…after destroying thirteen innocent groups that he mistook for the guilty group.

"…So, the coffee shop, right?" Naruto sighed.

Chao laughed, nodding, "The coffee shop-ne."

Naruto shoveled out a few bills from his pocket onto the counter and stood from his seat at the Chao-Bao-Zi, nodding his thanks to Chao, "Tell Satsuki-senpai that it was delic—"

_*BZZT—Would Uzumaki Naruto please report to Akashi-sensei's office? Would Uzumaki Naruto please report to Akashi-sensei's office?*_

"…Wish me luck, Chao-senpai," Naruto sighed deeply. Chao blew a kiss to her kohai as he walked away, pouting slightly that the boy, lost in his despair, didn't react. Chao shrugged—it wasn't as if this had happened a million times before. Naruto's Disciplinary Committee was far too effective for it to be just cut off for these mishaps. Still, Naruto's Disciplinary Committee was a rarity. Why? Because he was the only existing member—it was just unheard of. Most clubs had a minimum requirement of students participating in them to continue to receive funding—no, not most, _all _clubs had to. Shrugging her musings aside, Chao glanced to the wall of her small restaurant and frowned as she studied the calendar.

"…Just a few more months, huh?" Chao sighed.

* * *

><p>"Y-You wanted to see me, Akashi-sensei?" Naruto gulped, stepping into the room.<p>

Professor Akashi was in no way, shape, or form a cruel man. He was actually rather gentle and kind, and was more of a goofball than a fighter. His messy appearance only proved the fact. Akashi ran a hand through his brown hair and sighed, adjusting his glasses—he really would have to ask for a larger office eventually. His office was the "Official Headquarters" of the Mahora Disciplinary Committee—a small room, barely eight feet by eight feet (half of which was dedicated to his work for both the school and magical duties). What was reserved for the Disciplinary Members—all one of them—was a small couch and broken mini-fridge with three warm cans of soda resting inside. Akashi sighed, glancing at the notice in his hands, _'Not that it will matter soon, anyway.'_

"Akashi-sensei?"

"Oh, sorry, Naruto-kun—I was just thinking of something," Akashi sighed, "I suppose you know why you're here?"

"Because I messed up again," Naruto hung his head.

"Hm? You messed up again?" Akashi blinked, "What did you do?"

"N-N-Nothing! I didn't do anything! Everything is perfectly alright!" Naruto laughed nervously, flailing his hands around and looking as guilty as Akashi had ever seen him. Akashi chuckled slightly, "Well, whatever you did, it can't be as bad as the news I received today."

"News? What news?" Naruto tilted his head.

"…Officially, by the time summer vacation starts this year, the Mahora Disciplinary Committee will be disbanded," Akashi sighed, glancing up from his desk at Naruto to see his reaction.

Naruto's horrified look was all it took to tell him how he had taken the news. Naruto slapped himself across the face, testing to see if this was just a horrible, horrible nightmare and, when he found himself still in the office, all the color drained from Naruto's face. Running up to the desk and slamming his hands on it, Naruto shouted, "F-For what reason? They can't do this to us! We've been the only thing keeping Mahora in order for the past five years!"

"That may be, but the number of complaints about the Disciplinary Committee has been increasing lately. Students are complaining that they'd rather have Nitta back to patrolling the grounds daily than have you going after them. What's more, your mishaps are becoming infamous, Naruto-kun. Do you remember what happened to the Ooki Hachi gang last year? You did a great job taking them out…along with the Mahora Boy's Baseball Team and fifteen of the Robotics Society's robots. How about the Ganjou Ude bike gang four months ago? Amazing job taking out their leader, unfortunately, you only got him after you mistook and fought Nagase Kaede and Tatsumiya Mana, thinking they were the bosses! I gave you a photograph of the guy, Naruto-kun—he was a senior male student! How did you even make that mistake?"

"To be fair, Kaede-san and Mana-san had brought weapons to school that day," Naruto shrugged, "…Along with Setsuna-san."

"You fought with Setsuna-chan too?" Akashi blinked, "That explains why Touko-san was sending me those angry looks all that week. What about the time you destroyed the gymnasium when you tried to stop the Narutaki twin's prank war?"

"Those two are devils in disguise—pure evil!" Naruto's look instantly turned to anger and shook his fist in the air as he thought of the two girls that had caused him more trouble than anyone else on campus, "They exist to destroy and tarnish everything that Mahora stands for!"

"…I also have several lengthy complaints about how you overreact to a lot of things," Akashi raised his eyebrow as Naruto blushed in embarrassment.

"W-Well, maybe their n-not pure evil…but still!" Naruto hid his raised fist behind his back like a child would a broken toy and gave a sheepish smile.

Akashi sighed, "During the last festival, Gandolfini-san said he caught you seconds away from attempting to tear off the _clock tower _and _use it as a harpoon _to _shoot down _a blimp that a group of delinquents had tried to hijack."

"Who tries to hijack a blimp, anyway? A plane or boat would be so much faster!" Naruto snorted.

"Naruto," Akashi rubbed his temples, as he felt a headache coming on, "I can't keep covering for you like this. I know you mean well, but you have to try and have some self-control. It's only made our case worse for us. Combine the complaints, the fact that we only have one member, and that you can end up causing more damage than what you're trying to prevent, Konoe-san doesn't have much of a choice but to disband the Disciplinary Committee."

"B-But there has to be something I can do to correct this!" Naruto shouted, "I can't allow the Disciplinary Committee to just dissolve!"

"The best I can think of is to try and plead your case to Konoe-san and promise that you'll do better," Akashi shrugged, "We have until summer to try and change his mind. If you can manage to do that, I'm sure he'll reconsider."

"…Right," Naruto nodded, sighing and running a hand through his hair, "I'll go talk to him now."

As Naruto turned to leave, Akashi gave a weak smile and called out, "Naruto-kun, for now, just try and relax—I know you've been exhausted lately. Konoe-san has always been very understanding."

Naruto stopped in the doorway, before nodding his head without looking back, "Yeah, you're right."

"If you see Yuna, say "hello" to her for me," Akashi smiled as he went back to his papers, humming a light tune as he worked. Pushing his chair back, he paused a moment and fell into a deep thought process. Frowning, he reached to the bottom drawer of his desk and scanned his eyes over the files there. Akashi clicked his tongue as he found the file he was looking for, clearly marked 'Akatsuki'.

* * *

><p>"Konoe-sama, I have something that I'd like to talk to you about," Naruto declared, stepping through the doors of the principal's office. Konoemon laughed lightly, looking up from his work to greet Naruto with the usually twinkle in his eye. As Naruto approached the desk, Konoemon studied him—Naruto had grown up. He wasn't the little kid that used to run around Mahora on missions to explore or build secret bases all over the places. No, now he was a force to be reckoned with, growing to be the strongest student in Mahora, surpassing even some teachers. Obviously, he was not at Takahata's level nor was he a match for Evangeline's true power yet. However, Konoemon hadn't been a principal for so many years without learning how to recognize potential, and the amount of potential he saw from both Naruto and Negi was staggering, surpassing Evangeline, Takahata, and in their better moments, he would swear their potential surpassed even Nagi's or Rakan's.<p>

"I have a good idea of what you're about to ask me, Naruto-kun," Konoemon laughed lightly, "So, go ahead and let's see if this old bag of bones is right."

"I want you to reconsider disbanding the Mahora Disciplinary Committee."

"I was right…and, unfortunately, the matter is not in my hands," Konoemon sighed, "Naruto…have you defeated the gang that Akashi-kun sent you to look for today? The Ichiban gang?"

Naruto frowned in confusion—what did that have to do with anything? Naruto shook his head, "No."

"Then you already have a better chance of keeping your Disciplinary Committee," Konoemon nodded, "You see, the head of the Ichiban gang is the son of a very influential man here at Mahora Academy—in fact, much of our funding for our many, many extracurricular activities comes from this man. Well, his son got wind that you would be coming for his gang soon and complained to his father. The father has threatened to stop funding the school if you so much as lay a hand on his boy and wants your Disciplinary Committee disbanded. I managed to get you until the end of the year, but the man simply can't be reasoned with. I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but it was either save the Disciplinary Committee or I would have to cut too many of the clubs and extracurricular activities that so many of the students love."

"…There's nothing I can do?"

"…For now, carry on with your duties as is, but avoid the Ichiban gang. If you're approached…do what you think is right. I trust you," Konoemon sighed, "I cannot apologize enough for this, Naruto-kun."

"No, don't be sorry," Naruto turned and began towards the door, "You made the right choice—if the Disciplinary Committee must go to keep the other clubs intact, then its fine. We existed to help the students, not hinder them. I'll…I'll be on my way then. Thank you for trying, Konoe-sama."

Konoemon sighed sadly as he watched the doors shut. He buried his nose in paperwork and tried to push his thoughts aside. There were times when he hated his job.

* * *

><p>Naruto sighed as he walked through the hallways on his way to see Negi. For the better part of his life, he had devoted himself to protecting Mahora…now it was rejecting him? He wasn't an idiot—he had known all about how much fear he caused. He had known every single rumor going around the school about him. He could count the people who actually enjoyed talking to him on two hands—one hand on a bad day. Hell, there were even more than a few stores that refused him business purely because he scared all the other customers away. He would have been fine dealing with all that if it meant he could become a protector, even if he was an admittedly lousy one that couldn't do anything right.<p>

"…Heh, I'm starting to see why Taka-outo smokes," Naruto chuckled weakly at his lame joke. His chuckling erupted into full blown laughter. Naruto felt his body shake as he laughed and was forced to lean on the wall for support. The laughter grew to be too much even still, and Naruto found himself sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall and watching the afternoon sun get blocked by the clouds floating out the window. Konoha—he moved on, trying to forget it. And Mahora had been his safe haven for that—the place where he felt his happiest, where he could forget about the past and focus on the now. To be rejected again…

"It _hurts_, damn it," Naruto whispered to himself, "Being hated…if that was the price I had to pay to keep Mahora from being like Konoha, that would have been fine. If Mahora doesn't want me around anymore, what am I supposed to do?"

"Naruto?"

Naruto looked up to see a familiar pair of warm, chocolate brown eyes under soft brunette hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. Akashi Yuna looked down at her friend in concern—Naruto was weird, she would admit that, but he wasn't a sad person by any means. Seeing him on the ground with a dead look in his eyes—it didn't take a genius to figure out something was wrong with him.

"…Hey, Yuna-chan," Naruto shifted his eyes back to the clouds in the sky, "Why are you here?"

"Why am _I_ here? Why are _you_ here? I've been looking for you all day! Kagurazaka-san said that you had something to talk to me about," Yuna nodded, "More importantly, are you feeling alright?"

"Something to talk to you about?" Naruto blinked.

Yuna shrugged, "Negi-sensei ran into the room and whispered something to Asuna and then she told me you needed something. So, what's wrong?"

Naruto paused for a moment, lowering his gaze to the ground. Yuna blinked in confusion as Naruto sat there a moment in silence before lifting his head to the window once more, "Do you remember what you said to me when we first met?"

Yuna frowned, scratching the back of her head, "That was years ago, Naruto—of course I don't remember exactly what I said."

"You said something about 'high spirits'. Does it ring a bell?" Naruto mumbled.

Yuna's eyes widened with remembrance and she grew a happy, lopsided grin, "That's right! You were moping around on the beach and I had to come and cheer you up!"

Naruto chuckled a bit, a smirk finally making its way onto his face, "I wasn't moping. Anyway, do you remember exactly what you said then?"

"If it's about high spirits, then it must be what my mom always told me!" Yuna smiled, "High spirits are the strongest!"

Naruto nodded at the familiarity of the phrase, "Yeah. That was it…I still don't know what it means, though."

Yuna's grin became a small smile as she sat down on the floor next to Naruto and looked out the window with him, "Neither do I, really, but even so…I know it's right!"

"You're that sure?"

"There's not a doubt in my mind!" Yuna nodded, "Whenever I'm sad, I just think about what my mom used to tell me… "High spirits are strongest". It's always helped me have hope."

"Hope, huh?" Naruto frowned to himself as he mulled over the word. Hope. Did he have a reason to have hope? No. He didn't have to even think about the question for more than a second to answer that question. Konoha was gone, burned to the ground. Everyone he loved from Konoha was dead. He had loved and devoted himself to Mahora, and now it had left him behind. Hope was looking really damn stupid at this point. Naruto allowed a small smile to slip onto his face as he abruptly stood, causing Yuna to shoot him a confused look.

'_Good thing I'm an idiot, then,' _Naruto nodded, "Thanks, Yuna-chan. I gotta go thank an annoying redhead, so I'll see you around."

"Um…any time?" Yuna blinked, waving goodbye to Naruto. Standing and brushing off her skirt, Yuna shook her head—she'd never understand that kid. Half the time he was a shy, blushing, stuttering mess around her and the other half he was a cool-headed, aloof enigma. Yuna was so caught up in her analysis of Naruto that she never heard Takahata approach her until he tapped her on the shoulder.

"Oh, Takahata-sensei…" Yuna blinked, turning around.

"Good afternoon, Yuna-san," Takahata smiled, "Is there any reason you're standing in a hallway by yourself?"

"I was just talking to Naruto a second ago, but he ran off! I don't get that guy sometimes," Yuna huffed, pouting slightly, causing Takahata to chuckle.

"Yes, I know my son can be difficult at times, but I thank you for standing by him all the same," Takahata looked down the hallway Naruto had run off down, "He tries so hard to prove himself…too hard. He still has a lot to learn about the world and about people. But, most of all, I think he's still learning about himself."

"Learning…about himself?" Yuna blinked.

"Sorry—I'm just rambling to myself, really. Well, have a nice afternoon, Yuna-san," Takahata patted the girl on the shoulder and walked off, leaving Yuna twice as confused as before.

* * *

><p>Naruto scratched the back of his head as he stood outside the doors of 2-A. He supposed he couldn't get mad at his most annoying friend for waking him up so early if she had played a part in cheering him up. He wasn't sure why Asuna had sent Yuna, unless some rumors of the Disciplinary Committee shutting down had already gotten out—Naruto doubted this, however, seeing as there were no parades in the streets.<p>

"Might as well get it over with…" Naruto sighed, pulling back the sliding door, "Asuna, I—"

"O-Out of the way, Naru-nii!"

"Negi? What a—whoa!" Naruto nimbly leapt out of the doorframe just as Negi came careening through and down the hall, never stopping or losing speed. It was seconds later that a large group of girls came chasing after him from the room, waving different gifts in the air and calling his name. Naruto lay sprawled out on the grounds from his leap of faith, staring at the retreating figures in a mix of confusion, surprise, and disbelief. Immediately, however, those emotions were replaced with pure rage as another figure ran out of the room. Naruto leapt to his feet and grabbed Asuna's shoulder, stopping her movements.

"**Asuna-chan…do you want to explain this one to me?" **Naruto smiled, **"A "lasting impression", eh?"**

"N-N-Naruto? W-What are you doin—y-you're supposed to—Yuna was—"

"**Asuna, I'll leave it to your imagination to come up with what I'll do to you if I don't get an explanation for this in ten seconds."**

"U-Um, well, you see…" Asuna mentally sighed—she was going to die anyway, so she might as well get it over with, "I may have...kinda...accidently convinced Negi to...make a love potion so that I could romance Takahata-sensei!"

Naruto stood absolutely still as Asuna shok in terror, his head hung low and his hair covering his eyes. After a moment of silence, Asuna looked up at Naruto and stared in silence.

"…U-Um, shouldn't we…you know, stop them?" Asuna mumbled, hoping to divert whatever anger Naruto may have.

"Asuna, grab onto my arm."

"W-What? Why?"

"Asuna, I'm barely suppressing my incredible, incredible urge to kill you and everything in a ten mile radius, so I think it would be wiser for you if you'd listen to me," Naruto stated robotically. Asuna felt a chill roll down her spine and quickly did as she was told, fear causing her to cling to Naruto for dear life. Asuna watched Naruto crack his knuckles and trembled, "S-So, what are you going to do now?"

"**I'm going to destroy anything that gets in my way, that's all," **Naruto's anger, adrenalin, and frustration erupted as did his Discipline Mode. Before Asuna could blink, Naruto was halfway down the hall and running at full speed, her eyes widening and her mouth dropping to the floor as she noticed that her friend was literally _kicking up tiles from the floor._ As Asuna screamed for dear life while being swept away by Naruto, said blond took the moment to ponder his ability that the students had dubbed "Discipline Mode." Honestly, there was nothing really special to it and only consisted of two parts that Naruto had stumbled upon one day. The first part of Discipline Mode was his drastic increase in strength that the students swore was "superhuman", but Naruto had observed that it was merely a case of his anger causing him to channel chakra into his movements, leading to increased strength, speed, and durability. The angrier he got, the more chakra he would subconsciously channel. The second part was pretty much the same thing, except instead of chakra, Naruto was subconsciously channeling what Takahata had observed to be killing-intent. Takahata had told him that he should learn to control it, to be able to activate it at will, but Naruto didn't see the point. If he had to use it, he would already be angry enough to—

"N-Naruto, you're going to run right over the stairwell!" Asuna shouted, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts.

"**No, I'm going to jump over it."**

"W-What? We're on the fourth floo—kyaa!" Asuna screamed as Naruto leapt over the railing of the stairwell he had ran to and plummeted down four floors. Landing on his feet and holding Asuna bridal-style, Naruto kept running, never letting up once, even with Asuna shakily beating him with her fist and screaming that he was an idiot.

* * *

><p>"Ha…ha…never…again…" Asuna was currently collapsed on the floor, supporting the wall as she tried to push her heart from her throat back into her chest. Naruto, meanwhile, was looking for any sign of where Negi may have run off to. While he had done a miraculous job of covering ground, it would seem that his little brother had disappeared from thin air.<p>

"Yes, well, consider that your punishment," Naruto shrugged, "You can expect more than that if we don't find Negi soon."

"How am I supposed to find Negi if I don't even know where he wen—"

"N-Negi-sensei!"

Asuna's head shot up while Naruto immediately took off in the direction of the voice, "That was—"

"Nodoka-chan!" Naruto shouted, following the voice until he found himself at the doors of the school library. He violently shook the knobs as he discovered the door had been locked, Asuna catching up with him as he did. Naruto and Asuna shared a nod, Naruto pulling back his fist and Asuna rearing back her leg. In perfect synchronization, Naruto and Asuna shook the door with a powerful punch and kick, their impressive strength combining to make the doors fly off their hinges. The doors flew into the room, smacking into Negi and Nodoka, who was pinning Negi down to the floor, and knocking the latter unconscious.

"Crap, we got Honya-chan, too!" Asuna muttered, running over to check on her classmate. Seeing that she would be fine, Asuna let out a sigh and lifted Nodoka in her arms, turning to Negi, "Geez, do you have to cause trouble each and every day?"

"Y-You saved me, Asuna-san!" Negi smiled, relief rolling off his shoulders…before a strong hand grabbed said shoulders. Negi froze, his head turning inch by inch to see Naruto looking down at him, "N-N-Naru-nii! I-I'm s-sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"No, it's my fault, Negi," Naruto spoke, "I shouldn't have left you to Asuna—that can only lead you down the wrong path."

"I'm still here, you know," Asuna grumbled, carrying Nodoka past the two.

"R-Really?" Negi blinked.

"Yes," Naruto nodded…before an evil look came into his eyes, **"So that is why I will make sure you stay on the right path…even if I have to force you."**

"A-Asuna-sa—"

"**She won't be saving you again, Negi—no one will."**

Asuna tried her best to ignore the screams of fear behind her as she carried Nodoka off to the infirmary—and she succeeded with ease. She didn't have anything against Negi to leave him in the proverbial lion's den, especially considering that she was admittedly the one at fault here, but there was a pecking order to these things. If she had to send the newbie to his death to safe her own, then she could let it slide—a little punishment helped build character, correct? Nodding at her logic, she pushed forward, silently saluting her fallen—

"H-Help me, Asuna-san!"

Fall_ing _comrade.

* * *

><p>Okay, I'm back. I know it's been awhile people, but I have my reasons. I was recently discharged from the hospital after an accident and I had to go to rehab (No, not the one for drugs! The one for learning how to use my legs again!), but I'm out and I can walk fine again! This chapter was finished in May, actually, but as I have not had time to get on a computer what-so-ever, I haven't been able to post it up. It's a little shorter than the first one, being just over 10,000 words, and I have to admit, I don't think it holds up as well as chapter 1. This was mainly to set up some plot points that will develop more along the road.<p>

Naruto Takahata/Uzumaki

Nickname: Shikei (Death Penalty).

Notable Traits: Mahora Academy Student, Head/Founder of the "Mahora Disciplinary Committee", Son/Student of Takamichi "Death Glasses" Takahata, Older Brother-Figure of Negi.

Abilities: (More will be shown as they are revealed in story)

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Prefers to fight with hands)

Discipline Mode—Naruto is normally easy-going, until someone breaks Mahora's rules and/or endangers the students, faculty, buildings, or grounds of Mahora, in which case he becomes a killing-machine and his power is multiplied depending on the threat level (see chart below). His 'power' is actually a mixture of killing intent and chakra that he subconsciously releases every time he gets angry. The angrier he gets, the more he releases.

Example of Threat Level Multiplication Chart for Discipline Mode:_(Note: As Power Multiplies, Naruto's Appearance Becomes More Frightening/Demonic) _

x2—Not following dress code, being late, sleeping during class, etc. (Light/Minor Offences) _Stage 1: Annoyed Naruto_  
>x4—Not attending class, disrupting class, etc. (Slightly More Serious Offences) <em>Stage 2: Angry Naruto<em>  
>x8—Bullying, Harassment, Being a Member of a Gang, Defacing School Property, etc. (Serious Offences) <em>Stage 3: Demon Naruto<em>  
>x16—HeadingCreating a Gang, Gang's Claiming Mahora Turf, Student-Teacher Relationships, etc. (Very Serious Offences) _Stage 4: "Shikei" Naruto_  
>x100—Destroying Mahora Property, Endangering the Lives of Students and Faculty. <strong>(<strong>_**Unforgivable.**_**) **_Stage 5: "Shinigami" Naruto_


End file.
